ISKANDAR PUTERI, JOHOR (CNA) – The Johor state assembly has passed a Bill to lower the eligible age for election candidates contesting state seats from 21 to 18.
The amendment to Article 16 of the Johor State Constitution (Amendment) Enactment 2021 was tabled by Chief Minister Hasni Mohammad yesterday. It was approved unanimously by all assemblymen after a third reading.
In a statement after the Bill was passed, Hasni said that the amendment was one of the various youth empowerment initiatives by the Johor state government.
“I am of the opinion that the youth empowerment efforts should not only be focussed on democratisation, but should be more holistic and inclusive, encompassing economic, intellectual and voluntary empowerment in an organised and continuous manner,” he wrote.
The decision to lower the minimum age was agreed upon at the 137th Chief Minister’s Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in November.
During the meeting, a decision was made to allow individuals aged 18 to become candidates in the general election, state elections and by-elections.
Before Johor, several states had amended their respective state constitutions to allow for this provision. These include Sabah, Perlis, Terengganu, Sarawak, Kelantan, Perak, Penang and Kedah.
In July 2019, the federal parliament approved a Bill to lower the voting age from 21 to 18.
Last September, Ismail Sabri included ‘Undi 18’, the constitutional amendment allowing 18-year-olds to vote and stand for elections in the near future, as part of his offer to implement a number of Parliamentary and government administration transformations after he came to power.
Undi 18 later became a component of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the federal government and main opposition bloc Pakatan Harapan (PH) to establish bipartisan cooperation for the sake of political stability.
The Johor state assembly meeting on January 6. PHOTO: CNA
SYDNEY (AFP) – World number two Daniil Medvedev battled past seventh-ranked Matteo Berrettini and returned to court to win the deciding doubles to keep defending champions Russia on track for another ATP Cup title as they swept into the semi-finals yesterday.
Medvedev, who is set to be the top seed at this month’s Australian Open with Novak Djokovic facing deportation over a visa issue, was dominant in the first set.
But the gritty big-serving Italian battled back to win a second set tie-break before the Russian got a crucial break in game three of the third set to carve out a 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 win.
Russian number two Roman Safiullin earlier lost 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 to world number 10 Jannik Sinner with the tie forced into a doubles shoot-out.
Medvedev played just five doubles matches in 2021, but has fronted up for three so far in Sydney and partnered with Safiullin again to keep their unbeaten record intact, digging deep to beat Berrettini and Sinner 5-7, 6-4, 10-5.
Russia’s Roman Safiullin and teammate Danill Medvedev in action during their doubles match against Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia. PHOTO: AP
“What we did amazing today was we were in a tough position at one point, and every change, every shot we had to make we tried to discuss it, and it worked,” said Medvedev of the doubles.
“Roman stated playing unbelievable and we had some crazy rallies, it was amazing.”
Medvedev and Berrettini met in singles for the first time since the 2021 ATP Cup final, when the Russian ran out a 6-4, 6-2 winner to seal the trophy for his team, and he again had the edge.
Known on tour as ‘Deep Court Daniil’, he took up his customary position near the back wall to return serve, breaking twice in the first set.
The match turned in the third set when Medvedev’s service return earned him three break points to establish a 2-1 lead. He held serve for 3-1 and there was no way back for the Italian.
“I made some bad decisions in the second set so I tried to learn from that in the third. I served well throughout the match and that helped me,” added Medvedev, who led the ATP Tour with 63 match wins last year.
The Roberto Bautista Agut-led Spain and Hubert Hurkacz’s Poland have already made the last four and play each other today.
If Alexander Zverev’s Germany beat Canada then Britain will become the last semi-finalist. But if Canada win they will go through at Britain’s expense.
Britain keep their hopes alive by toppling the United States 2-1.
ROME (AFP) – Italy’s government said on Wednesday that it would make vaccination against COVID-19 compulsory from February 15 for everyone over the age of 50, in a bid to battle surging infections.
“We want to slow down the curve of contagion and encourage Italians who have not yet been vaccinated to do so,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi said during a Cabinet meeting at which the measure was adopted, according to a statement.
“We are working in particular on the age groups that are most at risk of being hospitalised, to reduce pressure on hospital to save lives,” he added.
The new decree obliges people over 50 who do not work to get vaccinated, and those who do work to obtain a vaccine pass – which effectively covers all over 50s.
In another statement, the government said that “the vaccine pass will be necessary for people over 50 in the public and private sectors to access their workplace from February 15”.
Out of Italy’s 59 million people, 28 million are over the age of 50, according to the Istat national statistics agency.
Late last month the government said that from January 10 a vaccination pass would be required to use public transport and access hotels, restaurant terraces and gyms.
Previously a health pass giving proof of vaccination – or a recent negative test – had been required.
As in much of Western Europe, Italy has seen its COVID cases soar in recent days, recording 189,000 on Wednesday, up from more than 170,000 on Tuesday.
Italy was the European country first hit by the pandemic in early 2020 and still has one of the highest death tolls, at more than 138,000.
FRANKFURT (AFP) – German industrial orders rebounded in November after a sharp drop in October, official data showed yesterday, despite persistent shortages in raw materials and components weighing on the sector.
The indicator, which gives a foretaste of industrial production, climbed by 3.7 per cent in November over the previous month, having fallen by 5.8 per cent in October, according to revised figures from the federal statistics agency Destatis.
The figures were a “positive impulse for the economic outlook”, the Economy Ministry said in a statement, while noting that “economic activity continues to be hampered by supply bottlenecks”.
The country’s flagship auto industry, which was plagued by shortages of key components throughout 2021, saw orders increase by seven per cent in November, having experienced a 4.7 per cent fall the month before.
Whether those orders could be filled promptly will depend on whether supply chain issues subside in the new year.
Germany’s Economy Ministry said the figures were a ‘positive impulse for the economic outlook’. PHOTO: AFP
The lack of semiconductors, a key part for both conventional and electric vehicles, pushed car sales in Germany to their lowest level since reunification in 1990, after a sharp drop in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Producers of other transportation modes, such as planes and boats, saw incoming orders grow by 32 per cent on October pushed by a raft of major orders.
International demand, which suffered particularly in October, increased by eight per cent over the previous month.
Order growth from inside the eurozone was particularly strong, up 13.1 per cent, while those from other countries rose five per cent.
Domestic orders meanwhile slipped 2.5 per cent on the previous month, as the government imposed new health restrictions to tackle increasing numbers of coronavirus cases.
PARIS (AFP) – Two years ago, a previously unknown virus plunged humanity into an unprecedented global crisis that has transformed our daily lives – and significantly expanded scientific knowledge.
IN THE AIR
In the early months of the pandemic, the prevailing scientific advice was that frequent handwashing would help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Health authorities urged people not to touch their faces with soiled hands and shared techniques on how to apply soap, while in many countries hand sanitisers became ubiquitous.
But as the pandemic wore on and scientists were able to study real world examples of how the virus spread – at a choir practice, in a bus or across a restaurant – a consensus emerged that this disease was largely transmitted through the air.
The virus travels in clouds of particles that we emit when we breathe and especially when we speak, shout or sing.
In a closed and poorly ventilated room, these aerosols can float and drift in the air for a long time, greatly increasing the risk of infection.
People queue for COVID-19 coronavirus tests, as hospitality and tourism workers are tested on Khao San Road, in Bangkok. PHOTO: AFP
But the importance of good ventilation to disperse these contaminated clouds – like clearing cigarette smoke – is not always well understood by the general public.
“There was a communication error: we scientists were not clear enough about ventilation,” said Arnaud Fontanet, of France’s Scientific Council, a body that guides government policy.
“When scientists talk about protective measures, we have to make it clear to people that ventilation is a part of it,” he told AFP.
FLIP-FLOP ON FACE COVERINGS
As a direct result of the awareness of aerosol transmission, the discourse on masks has radically changed in two years.
Initially, the World Health Organization (WHO) and many governments insisted that masks should only be used by caregivers, patients and their close relatives and not by the general public.
But many supporters of generalised mask wearing saw that as a way to conserve limited supplies and prevent a shortage for caregivers.
By spring 2020, there was an abrupt policy change and the mask became an essential tool in the fight against the pandemic, becoming mandatory in some places.
As more contagious variants have emerged, people have been advised to ditch their simpler fabric masks in favour of the super filtration of surgical masks.
And with the surge of the extremely contagious Omicron variant, many scientists are now advising people to wear even more protective masks like the FFP2 or N95 when in crowded indoor spaces.
VACCINES: A GAME CHANGER
The coronavirus has claimed millions of lives around the world since it first emerged two years ago, but that toll would have been far higher if it had not been for vaccines developed in record time.
Against all expectations, the pandemic showed that it is possible to design new vaccines against an unprecedented disease, and then start administering them worldwide in less than a year.
In the past, that process typically took 10 times longer.
Just over a year after the start of the global vaccination campaign, around half of the planet’s population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the University of Oxford’s website Our World in Data.
However, the vaccine rollout has confirmed fears that protection against the virus would be mired in inequalities between rich and poor countries.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wants 70 per cent of the world’s population to be vaccinated by July and has called for an end to vaccine hoarding by richer nations.
“If we end inequity, we end the pandemic,” he said in his New Year message.
…BUT NO MAGIC BULLET
Vaccines have been hugely effective at protecting against serious forms of COVID-19.
But they have been less effective at stopping the pandemic because they do not prevent people from spreading the virus.
Their overall effectiveness also decreases over time, while they have been shown to generate a weaker antibody response against the latest variants – Omicron and previously Delta – than against the historical strain of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Although there is mounting evidence that Omicron is milder than previous variants, rich countries have scrambled to accelerate booster campaigns to restore protection against infection.
This has heightened fears that rich countries will continue to monopolise vaccine doses, even as the virus spreads in poorer nations where people have less access to protection.
It is also not yet clear how long the effects of booster shots will last, and experts have warned that relying on them can only be a short-term strategy.
The WHO’s top COVID pandemic expert Maria Van Kerkhove stressed that vaccines must reach vulnerable people around the world, while public health measures like testing, isolation and masks will remain crucial.
“Vaccines AND, not Vaccines ONLY will end the #COVID19 pandemic. No one solution is enough,” she tweeted.
The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with Datastream Digital Sdn Bhd (DST), Progresif Sdn Bhd and Mach Telecommunications Systems Sdn Bhd (MachTel) will offer short messaging service (SMS) for the 2021 Primary School Assessment (PSR) examination results.
Those who wish to subscribe must register online through the Ministry of Education’s website at www.moe.gov.bn or e-Darussalam at www.gov.bn.
Subscribers can also register through their mobile phones via SMS and will input the following text; MOE <space> REG <space> [CENTRE CODE] <space> [CANDIDATE NUMBER] and send to 8885555 for DST subscribers or 38666 for Progresif subscribers.
No charges will be applied for registration through the Ministry of Education’s website or mobile phones.
Examination results will only be sent to subscribers via SMS upon approval from the Department of Examinations, Ministry of Education to release the results. Subscribers will be charged BND3 for each SMS result received.
For information email moeresults@machbrunei.com or visit http://www.machbrunei.com/moe/.
MANILA (AFP) – Child marriage became illegal in the Philippines yesterday as a law banning the practice took effect in a country where one in six girls enters wedlock before the age of 18.
The Southeast Asian country has the 12th highest number of child marriages in the world, according to Britain-based rights group Plan International, with long-held cultural practices and gender inequalities hindering change.
But the new law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte and released to the public yesterday, lays out prison terms of up to 12 years for marrying or cohabiting with anyone under 18.
People arranging or solemnising underage unions also face the same penalty.
“The state… views child marriage as a practice constituting child abuse because it debases, degrades, and demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of children,” the law states.
The government says the law is consistent with international conventions on the rights of women and children.
AP – It was a healthy year for big gifts to charitable causes in 2021, a year that saw one of the largest multibillion-dollar contributions in more than a decade, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy tally.
The power philanthropists Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates announced in May that they were divorcing and then gave a jaw-dropping USD15 billion to their foundation in July. The money will bolster its endowment and support the grant maker’s work in global health, development, policy and advocacy, and United States (US) education well into the future.
The gift increased the grant maker’s endowment to about USD65 billion and is the Gates’ biggest infusion of money into the foundation since 2000, when they transferred Microsoft stock then valued at USD20 million.
When they announced this year’s gift, the two philanthropists indicated they planned to continue running the foundation together for the time being but announced through the foundation that if after two years either one of them decides not to work together, then French Gates will resign as co-chair and trustee.
Regardless, the philanthropists made clear in two new Giving Pledge letters that they both intend to keep giving big in the years ahead.
Bill and Melinda Gates smile at each other during an interview in Kirkland, Washington on February 1, 2019. PHOTO: AP
French Gates wrote that she will continue to support efforts to fight poverty and “advance equality for women and girls and other marginalized groups”. Gates wrote in his Giving Pledge letter that the work of the foundation will continue to be his “top philanthropic priority” and that he plans to increase his giving in other areas like “mitigating climate change and tackling Alzheimer’s”.
Nonprofits that focus on those causes are likely to reap big rewards, given that Bill Gates’s net worth is pegged at about USD137 billion and Melinda French Gates’s at USD6 billion.
Meanwhile, Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny’s, USD500 million contribution to the University of Oregon tied for second place on the list. The gift will be used to expand the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact and follows a USD500 million donation the Knights gave to launch the science campus in 2016. The Knight Campus aims to speed up the process of transforming new scientific discoveries into medical treatments and other developments to improve people’s lives.
Phil Knight, whose net worth stands at about USD60 billion, earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the university in 1959. The couple have given the university a total of at least USD1.6 billion to date.
Also tied for number two is a USD500 million challenge pledge the financier George Soros made through his Open Society Foundations to Bard College for its endowment. The pledge aims to persuade other donors to back the college’s effort to raise USD1 billion over the next five years.
College officials announced in April that the pledge had already helped them raise USD250 million from other donors. Soros, whose net worth is pegged at USD8.6 billion, founded Soros Fund Management, a New York firm that manages hedge funds.
Next on the list is a USD480 million donation to Northwestern University from Patrick Ryan, founder of Ryan Specialty Group, an insurance services company, and his wife, Shirley. The Ryans, whose net worth stands at close to USD8 billion, gave the money to their alma mater for a variety of programmes.
The money will back education and research efforts in applied microeconomics, business, digital medicine, global health, neuroscience, and translational research programmes at the university’s Feinberg School of Medicine. A portion of the gift will also pay for building projects.
The Chronicle’s annual top 10 list of the largest gifts announced by individuals or their foundations totaled more than USD18.1 billion in 2021. (The 2021 list actually includes 11 donations because of ties.) The contributions on the 2021 list went primarily to well-established institutions. Eight of the 11 gifts are from billionaires whose cumulative wealth totals USD426.3 billion.
The Chronicle’s annual rankings are based on the 10 biggest publicly announced gifts. The tally does not include contributions of artwork or gifts from anonymous donors. In February, the Chronicle will unveil its annual ranking of the 50 biggest donors, a list based on individuals’ total contributions in 2021 rather than single gifts.
KINSHASA (AFP) – Nearly 400 extrajudicial executions took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo in November, including more than 10 per cent committed by government security forces and the others by armed groups, a United Nations (UN) report said on Wednesday.
The United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) said “agents of the state” were responsible for the extrajudicial executions in November of 40 people, including 24 men, nine women and seven children.
The UNJHRO, in its latest monthly report, added that fighters with armed groups committed summary executions of at least 345 people, or 258 men, 61 women and 26 children.
It documented in November 801 violations and human rights abuses throughout the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo, or an increase of 61 per cent over the month of October when there were 498 violations.
The majority of violations and abuses took place in the province of North Kivu, followed by Ituri, Tanganyika and South Kivu, all of them in the eastern part of the nation, the report said.
Since May North Kivu and Ituri have been under a state of siege aimed at ending the activity of armed groups.
This exceptional measure has given the army full powers but has failed so far to prevent abuses by armed groups that have destabilised the region for 25 years.
The authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo could not immediately be reached for comment.
BEIJING (AP) – Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower yesterday after investors saw minutes from a Federal Reserve meeting as a sign the United States (US) central bank might hike interest rates faster to cool inflation.
Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney retreated. Oil prices fell.
On Wednesday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell by its biggest daily margin in
four months.
Notes released yesterday from the Fed meeting last month showed policymakers believe the US job market is nearly healthy enough that ultra-low interest rates are no longer needed.
Traders took that as a sign the Fed might be more aggressive about rolling back stimulus that is boosting stock prices.
The report “bludgeoned the markets” by upsetting expectations that earlier Fed plans were locked in, said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in a report.
People walking by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo. PHOTO: AP
The Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.7 per cent to 3,571.18 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo tumbled 2.1 per cent to 28,721.49. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.6 per cent to 22,774.93.
The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.4 per cent to 2,942.54 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 sank 1.5 per cent to 7,449.80. New Zealand and Jakarta declined while Singapore and Bangkok gained.
The Fed indicated in mid-December that plans to wind down stimulus would be accelerated after US consumer inflation hit a 39-year high.
That jolted investors who had been encouraged by stronger corporate profits and the spread of coronavirus vaccinations. Despite that, the S&P 500 ended 2021 with a 26.9 per cent annual gain.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 slid 1.9 per cent on Wednesday to 4,700.58.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1 per cent to 36,407.11, pulling back from the previous day’s record. The Nasdaq composite tumbled 3.3 per cent to 15,100.17 in its biggest one-day decline in 11 months.
Bond yields, or the difference between the day’s market price and the payout at maturity, widened after the Fed notes came out.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for setting rates on mortgages and other loans, rose to 1.70 per cent from 1.68 per cent.
The Fed minutes showed policymakers expressed concern that inflation was spreading into more areas of the economy and would last longer than expected. They discussed the possible need to raise short-term interest rates at a quicker pace and allow bond purchases that inject money into the financial system to decline sooner.
Four out of five stocks in the S&P 500 fell. Tech companies were the biggest drag on the market. Microsoft fell 3.8 per cent and software maker Adobe shed 7.1 per cent.
In energy markets, benchmark US crude lost 76 cents to USD77.09 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 86 cents to USD77.85 on Wednesday. Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, sank 86 cents to USD79.94 per barrel in London. It rose 80 cents the previous session to USD80.80.
The dollar declined to JPY115.93 from Wednesday’s JPY116.16. The euro advanced to EUR1.1317 from EUR1.1311.
