Jailed HK media tycoon Jimmy Lai faces new sentence over illegal assembly
HONG KONG (May 28): Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon and Beijing critic Jimmy Lai is expected to receive a new prison sentence over his role in an unauthorised assembly on Oct. 1, 2019, during one of the city's pro-democracy rallies that year. He has been in jail since December after being denied bail in a separate national security trial. The sentencing is expected to be delivered on Friday by judge Amanda Woodcock, who handed Lai his illegal assembly sentence in April. Other defendants in the trial include activists Lee Cheuk-yan, Figo Chan and Leung Kwok-hung, who is known in Hong Kong as Long Hair. It comes two weeks after authorities froze assets belonging to Lai, including bank accounts and his 71.26% stake in media publisher Next Digital.
Source:The Edge Markets
May 28, 2021 00:45 UTC
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Biden pledges to tackle monopolies, supply shortages as prices rise
(May 28): President Joe Biden pledged on Thursday toroot out anti-competitive business practices and ease construction materials shortages andtransportation backups that are causing price hikes across the country. In recent weeks, the United States has faced shortfalls and bottlenecks from lumber to computer chips to port cargo backlogs. Together with labor shortages, those issues are making homes, cars and consumer goods pricier and harder to get. Lumber shortages have sent prices skyrocketing, and homebuilders worry they could go still higher if the U.S. Commerce Department finalizes a preliminary decision that could double tariffs on Canadian wood imports. "We would like to see the president lift tariffs on key construction materials, including lumber, steel and aluminum," said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America.
Source:The Edge Markets
May 27, 2021 23:37 UTC
Yellen says higher inflation will last through 2021, then fade
(May 27): US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she continues to see this year’s burst in inflation as temporary, though likely to last through the end of 2021. “My judgment right now is the recent inflation we’ve seen will be temporary, it’s not something that’s endemic,” Yellen said Thursday in response to questions from lawmakers. The US consumer price index rose 4.2% in the year through April, the highest reading in more than a decade. Yellen said the spike was caused by price changes driven by consumer spending shifts related to the pandemic and to supply-chain bottlenecks. Steve Womack, a Republican from Arkansas who asked Yellen about rising prices, said he expects Biden’s proposals will in fact contribute to inflation.
Source:The Edge Markets
May 27, 2021 16:18 UTC
Soccer-Zidane restored success to Real but seemed unwilling to rebuild
(Reuters) - Zinedine Zidane brought some success and stability back to a Real Madrid side that was in freefall without him but the Frenchman ultimately proved unwilling to preside over the squad rebuild the club felt it needed. The one marquee signing the club made in Zidane's second spell was Eden Hazard, who has been unable to shine due to a hapless run with injuries. Zidane, meanwhile, always resisted talk of a long career as Real coach, saying in December: "I'm never going to be the Alex Ferguson of Madrid. It came as no real surprise given the various hints he had dropped. "I work my socks off and there comes a point when it's time for a change," he said two weeks ago.
Source:The Star
May 27, 2021 13:41 UTC
Chinese transgender star Jin Xing becomes new face of top luxury brand Dior
BEIJING (Global Times): Jin Xing, China's most famous transgender star, recently became the new face of Dior. In a video, the star said that she supports women's independence and diverse individuality and that these qualities are what the fragrance tries to deliver. Besides the voices of support, some other netizens finding Dior's decision to embrace Jin a well-thought marketing move. "The consumer portrait of women who pursue the luxury brand Dior suggests that maybe they are generally more financially capable, as the brand is expensive, and are cosmopolitan career women, because the brand is also a symbol of social status and sophistication. - Global Times
Source:The Star
May 27, 2021 11:39 UTC
Nothing more important than staying alive
Be it a business or a human life, being alive is the most important thing. Many Covid-19 positive patients do not really know that they have been infected. I would like to suggest that clan houses and business associations consider deploying their resources to provide free Covid-19 tests for their members and encourage them to get vaccinated. It is understandable that people panic when seeing the staggering daily infection numbers. Be it a business or a human life, being alive is the most important thing right now.
Source:The Star
May 27, 2021 08:55 UTC
Lanang MP tests positive for Covid-19
SIBU: Lanang MP Alice Lau (pic) has tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday (May 25). Lau who revealed this in her Facebook page on Thursday (May 27) said she was undergoing quarantine at a Health Ministry centre in Sibu. She pledged to take all necessary precautions including helping the Health Ministry identify and contact those in close proximity with her for further investigation or test if needed. However, her assistants, who have been cleared and have not been in direct contact with her, would continue to service her constituents. Lau also called on the public to continue to be vigilant in the fight against the pandemic.
Source:The Star
May 27, 2021 08:48 UTC
Rafizi believes wife and him got early vaccination due to no-shows at the centre
PETALING JAYA: Former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli (pic) and his wife received their Covid-19 vaccines after receiving a sudden phone call from a vaccination centre. Rafizi said he believed others in the queue had not turned up and this enabled his wife and him to get vaccinated. “My office is 10 minutes away from the PPV (vaccination centre). As some Twitter users also questioned how the vaccination centre had his number, Rafizi noted he used to be the MP for this area so there was no doubt that many people had his number. “My house is five minutes away from the vaccination centre.
Source:The Star
May 27, 2021 08:03 UTC
Local artist and husband did not jump Covid-19 vaccination queue, says Perak hospital management
IPOH: The management at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRBP) has denied viral claims that a local celebrity and her husband had jumped the queue to get the Covid-19 vaccination there. The hospital’s director Dr Abdul Malek Osman in a statement said the artist, Datin Paduka Eina Azman, and her husband were referred by a specialist, as both had health and co-morbidities issues. He said the hospital’s vaccination centre received referrals of patients from various health facilities within and outside of Perak. “All patients referred to this centre have undergone initial checks under the ‘Pre Vaccination Assessment', which can only be obtained from government hospital specialist health clinics. “HRBP only injects the vaccine to the referred patient and does not carry out the assessment at the facility.
Source:The Star
May 27, 2021 05:37 UTC
The evolution of medicine from sorcery to gene therapy
Hypnosis, magic and religion also played a large part in the medicine practised by prehistoric human society. Moving forward, plant products were widely used in folk medicine, and indeed, are still used in many parts of the world today. If the altered protein is involved in metabolising a particular medicine, this may affect the levels of the medicine in the body, and thus influence how the patient responds to the medicine. In personalised medicine, doctors modify the dosage of the medicine or substitute it with a different one, according to the genetic makeup of the patient for optimal treatment effects. Known as gene therapy, this method of treatment is advancing rapidly and may become the primary form of treatment, rather than drugs or surgery, in the not-so-far-away future.
Source:The Star
May 27, 2021 05:00 UTC
My Say: Social protection policies beyond poverty targeting
Tax-funded social assistance programmes, an important pillar of social protection in Malaysia, are short term in nature and lack sustainable financial and legal foundations. Pitfalls of narrow poverty targetingWidespread poverty in the past justified poverty targeting as an important dimension for social protection policies in Malaysia. Social protection is essential for many in dealing with risks that could happen at any time throughout their lifetime. Right to social protectionWhile social protection is still seen by many as relief for the poor, poverty targeting alone is not sufficient to guide social protection policy. This should be a juncture for a paradigm shift in Malaysian social protection policies to honour the declaration that “social security is a human right” as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.
Source:The Edge Markets
May 27, 2021 04:07 UTC
Vaccination no-shows: Govt urged to relook at notification system
PETALING JAYA: With a large number of people not showing up for their vaccination appointments in Kedah, the government has been urged to relook at the way it notifies people of their vaccination appointment dates. “Everyone has to check the app every day and now they are only giving five days' notice before the vaccination date, ” he said. Jill Morrison believed many failed to turn up not because they did not want to but because there was no notification given to them. A total of 10,827 individuals who registered as Covid-19 vaccine recipients in Kedah failed to turn up for their vaccination appointment between April 19 and May 22. Around 10,000 residents in Kelantan, mostly aged 60 and above, also failed to show up for their vaccination appointments.
Source:The Star
May 27, 2021 03:45 UTC
Bezos to hand over Amazon CEO reins on July 5
SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said on May 26 that he will hand over operational control to his successor on July 5, leaving as the e-commerce giant flexes its muscles in television and cloud. Bezos is ceding his chief executive role to Andy Jassy, who heads Amazon Web Services, the lucrative cloud computing unit at the Seattle-based company. Bezos assured investors that Jassy is well known in the company, having been at Amazon almost as long as Bezos. “He is going to be an exceptional leader, and he has all my confidence,” Bezos said of Jassy. The move comes with Amazon experiencing surging growth in online retail and cloud computing, while making a push into entertainment as more consumers turn to streaming media.
Source:The Star
May 27, 2021 03:45 UTC
Soccer-Rashford receives barrage of racial abuse online after Europa loss
(Reuters) - Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford said he been subjected to "at least 70 racial slurs" on social media following Wednesday's defeat by Villarreal in the Europa League final. United were beaten by Villarreal 11-10 in a shootout after a 1-1 draw following extra time in Gdansk. "At least 70 racial slurs on my social accounts counted so far," Rashford tweeted https://twitter.com/MarcusRashford/status/1397693999872421888. United tweeted https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/1397709133613199360 after the game players were subjected to "disgraceful racist abuse" and urged users to report any form of abuse or discrimination through their online reporting tool. Instagram has announced new measures and Twitter vowed to continue its efforts after taking action on over 700 cases of abuse related to soccer in Britain in 2019.
Source:The Star
May 27, 2021 02:49 UTC
U.S. Senate panel advances EV tax credit of up to $12,500
The bill would limit tax credits to vehicles with a retail price below $80,000 to qualify for the tax credits. The current maximum tax credit is $7,500 with no maximum price and currently phases out for individual automakers once they hit 200,000 total EVs sold. Both General Motors and Tesla have hit the cap and currently do not qualify for the $7,500 tax credit. It has numerous other green energy tax incentives and would rescind or cut many fossil fuel tax provisions. The EV incentives are estimated to cost $31.6 billion through 2031, according to a congressional estimate.
Source:The Edge Markets
May 27, 2021 02:48 UTC