Internet users rise to correct Adham Baba's use of 'Spanish fly' in reference to early 20th century pandemic
PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba is in the limelight again on social media due to a video clip of him saying "Spanish fly" in reference to the deadly pandemic that swept the globe a century ago. In the video clip making its rounds online, the Health Minister is delivering a speech, believed to be at a public university. The topic "Spanish fly" is also trending in Malaysia's Twitter space with over 3,300 tweets at about 4pm on Monday (July 12). Some internet users pointed out that "Spanish fly" refers to an aphrodisiac. As of Monday, there have been about 4.03 million deaths caused by Covid-19 globally, with Malaysia having recorded over 6,000 deaths.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 09:15 UTC
Olympics-State of emergency begins in host city Tokyo as Games near
Opinion polls have consistently shown the Japanese public is concerned about going ahead with the Games during the pandemic. Prime Mininster Yoshihide Suga's handling of the pandemic - including an initially slow vaccination rollout - has eroded his support. The issue is especially sensitive ahead of a national election and a ruling party leadership race due later this year. "We would ask people to support athletes from home," Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on a Sunday TV programme. The government and organisers had long seen the Games as a chance to display Japan's recovery from a devastating 2011 earthquake and nuclear crisis.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 08:26 UTC
Lack of COVID awareness at Euro final 'devastating': WHO
GENEVA (Reuters) - A WHO epidemiologist said she had been devastated to watch unmasked crowds singing and shouting at the Euro 2020 soccer final in London on Sunday, expressing concerns that it would spur COVID-19 transmission, including of the Delta variant. Britain is facing a new wave of COVID-19 driven by the more transmissible variant despite having one of the world's highest vaccination rates. It plans to scrap most remaining anti-coronavirus restrictions on July 19, in a move that worries some scientists. "The #COVID19 pandemic is not taking a break tonight ... #SARSCoV2 #DeltaVariant will take advantage of unvaccinated people, in crowded settings, unmasked, screaming/shouting/singing. The WHO's emergencies head Michael Ryan also urged countries last week to use extreme caution when lifting COVID-19 restrictions, so as "not to lose the gains you've made".
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 08:26 UTC
Zuraida launches menstrual health programme for B40 youngsters
PETALING JAYA: A special kit aimed at challenging public stigma related to menstrual constraints through proper education and health management system will be distributed to teenage girls from the B40 group in stages in Selangor. The Kit Prihatin Perempuan, is aimed at providing support and raising awareness among teenage girls from the ages of nine to 17 from the B40 group, as well as provide them with a monthly supply of reusable sanitary pads. Conditions for eligibility is that they must be aged nine to 17 years old, from the B40 group and a resident in Selangor. The survey also found that 47% of women are finding it more difficult to access menstrual supplies since the pandemic. As B40 communities get hit hardest by Covid-19 with job losses and cuts, the ability to purchase menstrual products every month is not possible for many people.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 08:15 UTC
Yeoh: Fix the discrepancies and allow more sectors to reopen
PETALING JAYA: With Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob now assuming the Deputy Prime Minister’s post, Hannah Yeoh hopes that he will move to correct discrepancies in the standard operating procedure (SOP) to stem Covid-19 infections. “For whatever reasons, he was not able to fix these discrepancies when he was a Senior Minister. Yeoh also said personal health, grooming and wellness services such as chiropractors, barbers, hair stylists or any licensed therapists should be allowed to reopen based on previously issued SOP and safety guidelines. "The Deputy Prime Minister should prove his worth and fix the situation,” she said. On July 7, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin appointed Ismail Sabri as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein as Senior Minister in charge of security cluster.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 07:07 UTC
Johor cops bust prostitution racket, nab 26 in series of raids
JOHOR BARU: Police have busted a prostitution syndicate with the arrest of 26 people, including 16 women suspected to be sex workers, in a series of raids here. State police chief Comm Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the raids were carried out at seven premises – two budget hotels, three apartments, a house and a shophouse – between 6.30pm and 10pm on Saturday (July 10). Comm Ayob Khan said the suspects, aged between 21 and 54, included a man believed to be the main pimp. Comm Ayob Khan said a social media app was used by the syndicate to advertise its services and communicate with customers. “The syndicate used the app to send pictures of the women to the customers who, after making their choice, would be given a location.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 06:22 UTC
Elderly couple succumbs to Covid-19 within days of each other
SIK (Bernama): "My elderly parents promised to stick together to the end, and both passed away just two days apart," said Zuriyani Ramli, who lost her parents due to Covid-19 on July 9 and 11 respectively. Zuriyani, 42, who also tested positive for Covid-19 and was being treated in the same facility, the Sik Hospital here. "I was placed in the same ward as my father while my mother was admitted to the emergency ward. Zuriyani said she first tested positive for the Covid-19 after she went to the hospital to get medicine for a cough and was asked to do a swab test. Meanwhile, Kedah Health director Dr Othman Warijo said the elderly couple was admitted to Sik Hospital on Friday with respiratory infection symptoms and the death was due to Covid-19 pneumonia.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 05:26 UTC
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to open his first restaurant in Malaysia at Sunway Resort
With his fiery temperament, expletive-laden outbursts and his larger than life persona, Gordon Ramsay is a culinary tour de force to say the least. For his first Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill to open outside London, Ramsay chose Malaysia because of the incredible growth it is having and the great energy about this part of the world. The multi-Michelin starred celebrity chef is opening his eponymous Bar & Grill restaurant, at Sunway Resort, the flagship hotel at Sunway City Kuala Lumpur. — Sunway ResortSo what can gourmands expect from the first Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill to open outside London? — Gordon Ramsay RestaurantsSlated to open in the fourth quarter of this year, Gordon Ramsay’s Bar & Grill will have commanding views of Sunway Lagoon from its floor-to-ceiling windows which Ramsay says is tough to beat.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 03:56 UTC
Bond girl Lea Seydoux tests positive for Covid-19, may miss Cannes Film Festival
Lea Seydoux, one of France's most famous actors, may miss the Cannes Film Festival after testing positive for Covid-19. Seydoux has been fully vaccinated but she tested positive while working on a film, her publicist Christine Tripicchio confirmed Saturday (July 10). She is asymptomatic and isolating at home in Paris, hoping that negative tests on consecutive days could allow her to still attend the festival in the south of France. At Cannes, Seydoux stars in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch; in Arnaud Desplechin’s Deception; in Bruno Dumont’s France; and in Ildiko Enyedi’s The Story Of My Wife. Fremaux, artistic director of the festival, said Saturday there were zero positive tests on Friday.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 01:52 UTC
Malaysian businessman starts contactless food bank to help the poor
On May 31, the 41-year-old businessman, who runs a cloud kitchen, started a food bank with a “no questions asked” policy at his business premises. Recipients observing SOPs while queueing to collect food from the food bank. The kEATchen food bank is located at Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya and is surrounded by several low-income housing areas. Contactless collectionChan shares that the uniqueness of the food bank is that it is “contactless”. Chan also hopes to help those who come to the food bank find work.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 00:56 UTC
We must stop turning a blind eye to animal cruelty
COMING on the heels of the case of a man who put three cats in a washing machine, resulting in their deaths, was another case of animal cruelty, this time by council workers who bludgeoned a stray dog to death. Many such cases have previously gone unreported, perhaps because of the mistaken belief that cruelty to animals, especially to stray dogs, is not a punishable offence. The police must be applauded for investigating the latest case despite their other onerous duties. At times like these when we face movement restrictions and we remain indoors, there will be stray animals foraging for food in housing estates and eating shops. We must all stop turning a blind eye to animal cruelty.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 00:11 UTC
Vaccination outreach for bedridden, disabled
This segment involves house-to-house vaccination of the severely ill, bed-bound and the specially-abled who are unable to travel to public vaccination centres. The outreach is coordinated by Health Ministry’s family health development department and will be rolled out in phases nationally. MMA secretary-general Dr Thirunavukarasu Rajoo said the vaccination outreach said the vaccination outreach was a very important programme in achieving herd immunity with the idea of not leaving anyone behind in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. RegistrationNCSM, MyWatch, MMA and Yayasan myNadi advised individuals caring for the severely ill, bed-bound or specially-abled to register the patients for inclusion in the vaccine outreach programme. Call for volunteersNCSM, MyWatch, MMA and Yayasan myNadi are calling for volunteers to help support the house-to-house vaccination outreach programme.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 00:11 UTC
Taiwan's Foxconn, TSMC confirm US$350 mln COVID-19 vaccine deal
TAIPEI (July 12): Taiwan's Foxconn and TSMC said on Monday they had reached deals to buy 10 million doses of Germany's BioNTech SE's COVID-19 vaccine, putting the total cost of the highly politicised deal at around $350 million. Foxconn's founder Terry Gou wrote on his Facebook page that he was "gratified" the deal had been completed, which will see Foxconn and TSMC each buy 5 million doses, to be donated to the government for distribution. "But we can't relax, because we will continue to work hard to push for the delivery time and quantity," he said. TSMC and Foxconn are major Apple Inc suppliers. "During the negotiation period after my donation was proposed, there was no guidance or interference from the Beijing authorities in the mainland on the vaccine procurement process."
Source:The Edge Markets
July 12, 2021 00:11 UTC
Striving to keep flow of charity
“Some of the poor families have critically ill family members, and the most notable among these are dialysis patients. “Many poor patients choose to give up dialysis during these times to relieve the burden on their families,” he said. GHCA’s Kidney Dialysis Support Programme has used up the most funds compared with other charitable projects the association undertook, said Tan. GHCA sponsors the monthly dialysis costing RM720. GHCA’s head of the review team, Joshua Lim said, “We are moved seeing our beneficiaries striving to improve themselves and be independent.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 00:11 UTC
Far from a failure
The Malaysian government may not be perfect but that does not make the country a failed state. As of Sunday, Malaysia’s vaccination rate is second only to Singapore’s according to Our World in Data (ourworldindata.org). Going by our vaccination rate today, it will take only five months. A failed state should see capital flight, not a surge in FDI. A failed state would never spend that kind of money to help keep the heads of its people above water.
Source:The Star
July 12, 2021 00:00 UTC