UMNO says its ministers will stay in Cabinet, but wants general election once COVID-19 is under control - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) said late Thursday night (Oct 29) that all its ministers will stay in the Cabinet for now, while calling for a general election to be held once COVID-19 is under control.

This came amid talk of a possible Cabinet reshuffle, with some suggesting that there might be a deputy prime minister from UMNO.

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In a statement released after the party held its second supreme council meeting this week, UMNO’s president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said: “All Cabinet members who represent UMNO will continue in government and commit to protecting the people’s welfare and defend the party’s honour.”

However, the party also stated that the people’s mandate should be returned to form a government that is stable, by holding a general election once the COVID-19 pandemic was under control and at a minimum level.

United Malays National Organisation president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. (File photo: Bernama) 

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READ: Commentary - UMNO’s in no shape to play kingmaker in Malaysia

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The statement said UMNO would continue to be focused and consistent on the importance of a political ceasefire and the national reconciliation agenda, in order to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic while taking care of the people’s welfare and the country’s peace and political stability.

“UMNO wishes to repeat clearly that we uphold the king's and rulers' council’s decree to ensure the country's administration is well-managed, based on the supremacy of laws and honouring the spirit enshrined in the Federal Constitution, and not taking the country into an emergency like what was proposed by the government,” said Ahmad Zahid.

He added that the party has refined the various views and hopes of the people regarding the upcoming budget to be tabled on Nov 6, and will forward these to the government.

These include the loan moratorium extension issue, household living assistance for those how had lost their income, assistance for unemployed youths, special payments for frontliners and other initiatives to raise Malaysia’s economic development. 

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READ: Malaysia king urges MPs to give 'solid support' to budget 2021 for people's well-being and economic recovery

Ahmad Zahid also said that any parties’ action to question UMNO’s decision to support the royal decree was irresponsible and extremely regretted. The party would also not hesitate to take firm action to protect both the rulers’ sovereignty and people’s interest. 

Although UMNO is not formally registered in the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, the support of its 39 MPs are a crucial bloc in supporting Mr Muhyiddin Yassin’s slim parliamentary majority.

On Monday, the party reaffirmed its support for the PN government, but also urged better cooperation, stating that its political relationship should be based on respect and political consensus.

The Monday announcement was in the wake of the Malaysian king and rulers’ council’s decision to reject a proposal by Mr Muhyiddin on Oct 23, to declare a state of emergency amid rising COVID-19 cases and political instability.

A state of emergency would have seen the upcoming parliamentary sitting on Nov 2 suspended.

There was earlier speculation that some lawmakers from UMNO were prepared to work with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. UMNO politicians have been perceived to be seeking a more favourable redistribution of government positions for the party's lawmakers.

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2020-10-29 17:51:22Z
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Mahathir sparks uproar with claim Muslims 'have right to kill millions of French' - South China Morning Post

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1. Mahathir sparks uproar with claim Muslims 'have right to kill millions of French'  South China Morning Post
2. France to enact second lockdown to put brakes on COVID-19 surge  CNA
3. Explainer: Why comments by France's President Macron have angered the Muslim world  TODAYonline
4. Islamophobia: Macron’s desperate bid for re-election  Al Jazeera English
5. Policy no different from that practised by majority of governments  New Straits Times
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2020-10-29 14:01:06Z
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Mahathir meets party leaders, wants to form unity govt, say sources - TODAYonline

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1. Mahathir meets party leaders, wants to form unity govt, say sources  TODAYonline
2. Umno's top council to meet on Thursday evening: Sources  The Straits Times
3. Talk of Cabinet reshuffle heats up at special Umno supreme council meeting  The Star
4. Umno supreme council to hold special meeting on Thursday night  TODAYonline
5. Umno leaders' meeting fuels talk of imminent Malaysian Cabinet reshuffle  The Straits Times
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2020-10-29 12:33:54Z
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Three dead as woman beheaded in knife attack at French church - CNA

NICE, France: A knife-wielding attacker shouting "Allahu Akbar" beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a suspected terrorist attack at a church in the French city of Nice on Thursday (Oct 29), police and officials said.

Nice's mayor, Christian Estrosi, who described the attack as terrorism, said on Twitter that it had happened in or near the city's Notre-Dame church and that police had detained the attacker.

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Estrosi said the attacker had shouted the phrase "Allahu Akbar", or "God is greatest", and kept shouting it even after he had been detained.

One of the people killed inside the church was believed to be the church warden, Estrosi said.

​"The suspected knife attacker was shot by police while being detained, he is on his way to hospital, he is alive," Estrosi told reporters.

"Enough is enough," Estrosi said. "It's time now for France to exonerate itself from the laws of peace in order to definitively wipe out Islamo-fascism from our territory."

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Police officers secure the area after a reported knife attack at Notre-Dame church in Nice, France, on Oct 29, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Eric Gaillard)

Police said three people were confirmed to have died in the attack and several were injured.

A police source said a woman was decapitated. French politician Marine Le Pen also spoke of a decapitation having occurred in the attack.

Estrosi said the victims had been killed in a "horrible way".

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"The methods match, without doubt, those used against the brave teacher in Conflans Sainte Honorine, Samuel Paty," he said, referring to a French teacher beheaded earlier this month in an attack in a suburb of Paris.

A security officer secures the area after a reported knife attack near Notre-Dame church in Nice, France, on Oct 29, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Eric Gaillard)

​Giving a toll that differed from figures from the police and French media, Estrosi said he could confirm that two people had died. 

He said a third person, a woman who was gravely injured, had tried to escape from inside the church and had fled into a bar opposite the building.

The French anti-terrorist prosecutor's department said it had been asked to investigate the attack.

Reuters journalists at the scene said police armed with automatic weapons had put up a security cordon around the church, which is on Nice's Avenue Jean Medecin, the city's main shopping thoroughfare.

Ambulances and fire service vehicles were also at the scene.

READ: UN official expresses 'deep concern' over Muhammad cartoon tensions

The attack comes while France is still reeling from the beheading of middle school teacher Paty by a man of Chechen origin.

The attacker had said he wanted to punish Paty for showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a civics lesson.

It was not immediately clear what the motive was for the Nice attack, or if there was any connection to the cartoons, which Muslims consider to be blasphemous.

Since Paty's killing, French officials - backed by many ordinary citizens - have re-asserted the right to display the cartoons, and the images have been widely displayed at marches in solidarity with the killed teacher.

That has prompted an outpouring of anger in parts of the Muslim world, with some governments accusing French leader Emmanuel Macron of pursuing an anti-Islam agenda.

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2020-10-29 10:37:46Z
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Three dead as woman beheaded in knife attack at French church - CNA

NICE, France: A knife-wielding attacker shouting "Allahu Akbar" beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a suspected terrorist attack at a church in the French city of Nice on Thursday (Oct 29), police and officials said.

Nice's mayor, Christian Estrosi, who described the attack as terrorism, said on Twitter that it had happened in or near the city's Notre-Dame church and that police had detained the attacker.

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Estrosi said the attacker had shouted the phrase "Allahu Akbar", or "God is greatest", and kept shouting it even after he had been detained.

One of the people killed inside the church was believed to be the church warden, Estrosi said.

​"The suspected knife attacker was shot by police while being detained, he is on his way to hospital, he is alive," Estrosi told reporters.

"Enough is enough," Estrosi said. "It's time now for France to exonerate itself from the laws of peace in order to definitively wipe out Islamo-fascism from our territory."

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Police officers secure the area after a reported knife attack at Notre-Dame church in Nice, France, on Oct 29, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Eric Gaillard)

Police said three people were confirmed to have died in the attack and several were injured.

A police source said a woman was decapitated. French politician Marine Le Pen also spoke of a decapitation having occurred in the attack.

Estrosi said the victims had been killed in a "horrible way".

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"The methods match, without doubt, those used against the brave teacher in Conflans Sainte Honorine, Samuel Paty," he said, referring to a French teacher beheaded earlier this month in an attack in a suburb of Paris.

A security officer secures the area after a reported knife attack near Notre-Dame church in Nice, France, on Oct 29, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Eric Gaillard)

​Giving a toll that differed from figures from the police and French media, Estrosi said he could confirm that two people had died. 

He said a third person, a woman who was gravely injured, had tried to escape from inside the church and had fled into a bar opposite the building.

The French anti-terrorist prosecutor's department said it had been asked to investigate the attack.

Reuters journalists at the scene said police armed with automatic weapons had put up a security cordon around the church, which is on Nice's Avenue Jean Medecin, the city's main shopping thoroughfare.

Ambulances and fire service vehicles were also at the scene.

READ: UN official expresses 'deep concern' over Muhammad cartoon tensions

The attack comes while France is still reeling from the beheading of middle school teacher Paty by a man of Chechen origin.

The attacker had said he wanted to punish Paty for showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a civics lesson.

It was not immediately clear what the motive was for the Nice attack, or if there was any connection to the cartoons, which Muslims consider to be blasphemous.

Since Paty's killing, French officials - backed by many ordinary citizens - have re-asserted the right to display the cartoons, and the images have been widely displayed at marches in solidarity with the killed teacher.

That has prompted an outpouring of anger in parts of the Muslim world, with some governments accusing French leader Emmanuel Macron of pursuing an anti-Islam agenda.

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2020-10-29 10:30:00Z
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Singapore to allow travellers from China, Australia's Victoria from Nov 6; no quarantine if Covid-19 test negative - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Tourists and all other travellers from China and the state of Victoria in Australia will be able to enter Singapore without an extended quarantine period from next Friday (Nov 6), with the Republic opening its borders to these two places.

They will have to take a Covid-19 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test upon arrival. If they test negative, they can go about their business without serving a stay-home notice.

The same applies to Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders returning from these two areas.

Singapore had earlier announced similar unilateral measures for all forms of travel from Brunei, New Zealand, Vietnam and all other parts of Australia except Victoria, which until recently had been battling more cases than the rest of the country.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said on Thursday (Oct 29) that mainland China and Victoria had been added to the list as they have comprehensive public health surveillance systems and had successfully controlled the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

China has a virus local incidence rate of 0.00009 cases per 100,000 people, while Victoria has a rate of 0.099 cases per 100,000 people, it noted in a statement.

"The risk of importation from these places is low," said CAAS.

Travellers from the two places will be able to apply for an air travel pass to enter Singapore from noon on Friday for entry from Nov 6.

Applicants must have remained in China or Australia in the last 14 consecutive days before entry into Singapore. Outbound travel is still restricted in both countries.

As at noon on Thursday, CAAS had approved 1,375 applications to travel into Singapore from Brunei, New Zealand, Vietnam and Australia, excluding Victoria.

None of the travellers who have come to Singapore has tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival, CAAS said.

It added that it will update the local travel advisory to allow travel to China and all of Australia, although this is expected to have limited impact, with inbound travel restrictions still in place in both countries.

China has been one of Changi Airport’s major markets, with 7.3 million passenger movements last year attributed to it. This makes up 10.7 per cent of Changi’s total traffic last year.

Indonesia was Changi’s top market, with 8.3 million passenger movements attributed to the country.

There are currently only 10 flights weekly to seven cities in China. This is in contrast to December last year, when there were 373 weekly flights to 36 cities in China.

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2020-10-29 09:30:00Z
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France and Germany thrust into lockdown as second Covid-19 wave sweeps - The Straits Times

BERIN/PARIS (REUTERS) - French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ordered their countries back into lockdown on Wednesday (Oct 29), as a massive second wave of coronavirus infections threatened to overwhelm Europe before the winter. 

World stock markets went into a dive in response to the news that Europe’s biggest economies were imposing nationwide restrictions almost as severe as the ones that drove the global economy this year into its deepest recession in generations. 

"The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated," Mr Macron said in a televised address. "Like all our neighbours, we are submerged by the sudden acceleration of the virus."

"We are all in the same position: overrun by a second wave which we know will be harder, more deadly than the first," he said. "I have decided that we need to return to the lockdown which stopped the virus."

Under the new French measures which come into force on Friday, people will be required to stay in their homes except to buy essential goods, seek medical attention, or exercise for up to one hour a day.

They will be permitted to go to work if their employer deems it impossible for them to do the job from home.  Schools will stay open. 

As in the darkest days of spring, anyone leaving their home in France will now have to carry a document justifying being outside, which can be checked by police.  

Germany will shut bars, restaurants and theatres from Nov 2-30 under measures agreed between Mrs Merkel and heads of regional governments.

Schools will stay open, and shops will be allowed to operate with strict limits on access. 

"We need to take action now," Mrs Merkel said. "Our health system can still cope with this challenge today, but at this speed of infections it will reach the limits of its capacity within weeks."

Her finance minister Olaf Scholz posted on Twitter: "November will be a month of truth. The increasing numbers of infections are forcing us to take tough countermeasures in order to break the second wave." 

France has surged above 36,000 new cases a day. 

Germany, which was less hard-hit than its European neighbours early this year, has seen an exponential rise in cases. 

In the United States, a new wave of infections has been setting records with six days to go until Election Day. 

President Donald Trump has played down the virus and shows no sign of cancelling public rallies where his supporters often refuse to wear masks or keep a safe distance. 

European stock markets closed at their lowest levels since late May on Wednesday. In the United States, the S&P 500 was down 3 per cent. 

In an effort to blunt the economic impact, Germany will set aside up to 10 billion euros (S$16 billion) to partly reimburse companies for lost sales.

Italy has set aside more than 5 billion euros. 

If we wait it will be too late

While leaders have been desperate to avoid the crippling cost of lockdowns, the new restrictions reflect alarm at the galloping pace of the pandemic from Spain, France and Germany to Russia, Poland and Bulgaria. 

"If we wait until the intensive care units are full, it will be too late," said German Health Minister Jens Spahn, whose country already has taken in patients from its neighbour the Netherlands, where hospitals have reached their limits. 

A city official attaches an information poster on the wearing of face masks and social distancing measures as well as the ban of alcoholic beverages during certain hours, in the city of Nuremberg, southern Germany, on Oct 28, 2020. PHOTO: AFP

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Wednesday that hospital beds were at 90 per cent of capacity in 16 regions of the country, while officials have warned that even well-equipped health systems like those in France and Switzerland could reach breaking point within days.  

Hopes that new treatments might curb the spread were dented when the head of Britain’s vaccine procurement task force said that a fully effective vaccine may never be developed and that early versions were likely to be imperfect. 

The latest figures from the World Health Organisation on Tuesday showed Europe reported 1.3 million new cases in the past seven days, nearly half the 2.9 million reported worldwide, with over 11,700 deaths, a 37 per cent jump over the previous week.  

So far, more than 42 million cases and more than 1.1 million deaths have been recorded worldwide from the virus, which was first identified in the central Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of last year.  

Governments across Europe have been under fire for a lack of coordination and for failing to use a lull in cases over the summer to bolster defences, leaving hospitals unprepared.  

Since the weekend, police and protesters have clashed repeatedly in Italian cities from Naples to Turin.

Restaurant owners and business groups have been critical.  

"At 6pm public transport is often crowded. You take the risk because you have to get to work. You wear a mask, you take hand gel with you," Mr Elio Venafro said after getting off a bus in central Rome on Wednesday. "It’s the new normal."

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2020-10-29 00:02:52Z
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