WASHINGTON: Donald Trump's younger brother Robert died on Saturday (Aug 15) after being hospitalised for an undisclosed illness, the US president said in a statement mourning his loss.
"It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight," Trump said in a White House statement.
"He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace."
The 74-year-old president had visited his brother on Friday at a hospital in New York, staying for about 45 minutes.
US media reports had said Robert Trump was seriously ill, although there were no details.
Donald Trump, who was stopping in New York on the way to his golf club in nearby Bedminster, New Jersey for the weekend, told reporters Friday only that "he's having a hard time."
"Uncle Robert, we love you. You are in our hearts and prayers, always," Donald Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka said on Twitter.
Her brother Eric said Robert Trump would be "deeply missed by our entire family."
"Robert Trump was an incredible man - strong, kind and loyal to the core. Anyone who encountered him felt his warmth immediately," he said on Twitter.
Born in 1948 and the youngest of the five Trump siblings, Robert worked on Wall Street before joining the family real estate business.
Quieter and less famous than Donald, Robert nevertheless became an integral part of the Trump Organization and was fiercely loyal to his older brother.
"I support Donald one thousand per cent," Robert told the New York Post in January 2016 as Donald was making his bid for the White House.
"I think he's doing a great job. I think he's got a great message."
"GREAT RELATIONSHIP"
While usually avoiding the limelight, earlier this year Robert Trump unsuccessfully tried to block publication of a book by his niece Mary Trump, arguing that she was violating a non-disclosure agreement signed in 2001 after the settlement of her grandfather's estate.
The book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, paints Donald Trump as the product of a "toxic" family.
"Her attempt to sensationalise and mischaracterise our family relationship after all of these years for her own financial gain is both a travesty and injustice to the memory of my late brother, Fred, and our beloved parents," Robert said in a statement to the New York Times.
"I and the rest of my entire family are so proud of my wonderful brother, the president, and feel that Mary's actions are truly a disgrace."
Although a temporary restraining order was applied, a judge lifted it in July, allowing publication.
Mary was the daughter of the eldest Trump brother Fred Trump Jr, who died of alcoholism in 1981.
Donald Trump has previously called his brother Robert "wonderful" and said they have "had a great relationship for a long time, from day one."
Robert divorced his long-time wife Blaine in 2009 and in March this year married Ann Marie Pallan, a Trump Organization employee, the New York Post reported.
Before Robert's death, the couple had been living a quiet life at their home in Millbrook, in the Hudson Valley, media reports said.
Paying tribute to Robert, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, now the president's personal lawyer, said he had "a big heart."
"As a former Mayor I know how much he did to help New Yorkers in need. We have lost a really good man. My love, prayers and condolences to the Trump family," he tweeted.
KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A mutation of the coronavirus that is far more infectious than the original Wuhan strain has been detected in Malaysia, the health authorities said on Sunday (Aug 16).
The D614G mutation was discovered by the Malaysian Institute for Medical Research in four cases from two Covid-19 clusters in the country - the Sivagangga cluster and the Ulu Tiram cluster, said health chief Noor Hisham Abdullah in a Facebook post on Sunday.
According to Datuk Dr Hisham, the discovery of the mutation means people need to be more careful and continue being disciplined in practising safety measures such as social distancing, personal hygiene and wearing of masks.
"It's found to be 10 times more infectious and is easily spread by an individual 'super spreader'," he said, of the mutation.
He said the strain was found in preliminary tests and that follow-up tests would be conducted on other cases including the index cases of both clusters.
He added that the D614G mutation was discovered by scientists in July 2020, and could render existing vaccine research incomplete or ineffective against the new strain.
Nevertheless he noted that the swift action by Malaysia's public health authorities has controlled the virus' spread from the affected clusters.
Malaysia reported 26 new cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of infections so far to 9,175. No new fatalities were reported, keeping the death toll at 125.
BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY (REUTERS, NYTIMES) - US President Donald Trump said that his younger brother, Robert Trump, died on Saturday night (Aug 15), a day after the President visited him in a New York hospital.
"It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight. He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever.
"Robert, I love you. Rest in peace," Mr Trump said in a statement.
Mr Robert Trump, 72, who was two years younger than the president, was a business executive and real estate developer.
President Trump made an emotional visit to see his ailing brother on Friday at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center before going to his golf club at Bedminster, New Jersey, for the weekend.
The President was expected to attend the funeral, an aide said. He has a busy travel schedule in coming days with plans to visit four battleground states as part of his re-election campaign.
The White House did not provide a cause of death. Mr Trump told reporters on Friday that his brother was "having a hard time" with an undisclosed illness.
Mr Robert Trump, who took blood thinners, had suffered recent brain bleeds that began after a recent fall, according to a close friend of the family. He had been in poor health since last month. Over the past few weeks, he had not been able to speak on the phone, according to the family friend.
ABC News had reported that Mr Robert Trump was hospitalised in the intensive care unit at Mount Sinai hospital in New York for more than a week in June.
That same month, Mr Robert Trump won a temporary restraining order against his and the President's niece, Ms Mary Trump, to stop her from publishing a tell-all book that offered an unflattering look of the US President and his family.
A state supreme court judge in Poughkeepsie, New York, later denied a request to stop publication and cancelled the temporary restraining order.
Mr Robert Trump had said the book, Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man, would violate a confidentiality agreement tied to the estate of his father, Mr Fred Trump Sr, who died in 1999.
Mr Robert Trump with ex-wife Blaine Trump during an event in New York City on May 23, 2005. PHOTO: AFP
Mr Robert Trump had no children, but he helped raise Christopher Hollister Trump-Retchin, the son of his first wife, Ms Blaine Trump, even giving him his last name. Besides the President, he is survived by his second wife, Ms Ann Marie Pallan, and his sisters, Ms Maryanne Trump Barry and Ms Elizabeth Trump Grau. His brother Fred Trump Jr died in 1981.
As the youngest of five children growing up in the strict Queens household of Mr Fred C. Trump, Mr Robert Trump was shielded from some of the pressure exerted by his disciplinarian father over his older brothers.
He was never groomed to take over the family real estate company and was considered by those who knew him to be the inverse of the brash, self-promotional brother who eventually did.
After graduating from Boston University, he first went to work on Wall Street, instead of immediately joining the family business. But he eventually went to work for his brother as a senior executive at the Trump Organization.
“You could consider him the quietest of Trumps,” said Mr Michael D’Antonio, a Trump biographer. “He was glad to stay out of the spotlight.”
Mr Jack O’Donnell, a former Trump Organization executive who worked closely with the Trump family, recalled the younger Trump as someone with a natural ease and good humour that his older brother lacked.
“He was dignified, he was quiet, he listened, he was good to work with,” Mr O’Donnell said. “He had zero sense of entitlement. Robert was very comfortable being Donald Trump’s brother and not being like him.”
That was not always an easy gig, and simply being a close family member did nothing to shield him from his brother’s stormy rages when he needed someone to blame.
Family friends said that as Mr Donald Trump’s star grew, Mr Robert Trump struggled with working for his brother and actively cultivated an image as someone who was the polar opposite of the better-known Trump.
But Mr Donald Trump still faulted Mr Robert Trump, for instance, for the problems with slot machines that plagued the opening of the Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1990 and cost him tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue.
Mr Donald Trump had put his brother in charge of the property after a fatal helicopter accident in 1989 killed three Trump Organization executives who had been overseeing it.
But gaming regulators did not allow the casino to open because of a complete lack of financial control of the slot machines. On opening night, only a small section of the casino floor was open, and it was months before the slot machines were fully activated.
In one meeting, O’Donnell recalled, Mr Donald Trump lost his temper and screamed at his brother, telling him that he pinned all of the blame on him. “Robert calmly got up, walked out of the room, and that’s the last time I ever saw him,” Mr O’Donnell said.
After the blowup, Mr Robert Trump stopped reporting directly to his brother and removed himself from the core of the business, working out of the Brooklyn office and dealing with real estate projects in boroughs outside Manhattan that were in the family’s portfolio.
But people who knew him said he was devastated by the fight with Mr Donald Trump, and the rift between them took years to heal. During the years Mr Robert Trump worked in Brooklyn, he would take his father, who at the time had Alzheimer’s disease, out for lunch every day at Gargiulo’s, an Italian restaurant, a friend recalled.
He reconciled with his brother when Mr Donald Trump decided to run for president, according to a person close to the family. Mr Robert Trump had in recent years been a loyal family spokesman and consigliere since his older brother entered politics. “I support Donald 1,000 per cent,” he told the New York Post in 2016. “If he were to need me in any way, I’d be there. Anything I could do to help.”
The relationship between the brothers – the older one dominating, the younger having to live with it and submit – was illustrated by Mr Donald Trump in his book, The Art Of The Deal.”
In it, he recalled stealing his younger brother’s blocks and gluing them together so that he couldn’t reclaim them. “That was the end of Robert’s blocks,” he wrote proudly.
The President’s decision to visit Mr Robert Trump in the hospital at the end of his life was different from how he handled news in 1981 that his older brother, Mr Fred Trump Jr., was in poor health.
According to Ms Mary Trump’s account, Mr Donald Trump went to the movies the night Mr Fred Trump Jr died. Mr Fred Trump, Sr, the patriarch, also did not visit him.
But Ms Gwenda Blair, a biographer of the Trump family, said that in light of the crack that Ms Mary Trump’s memoir has put in the Trump family lore, the President would have had no choice.
“It’s very much part of the Trump family legend that they are a tight-knit, loyal group,” she said. “That is the family modus operandi. Mary Trump has recently suggested otherwise, but I think as part of the response to that, Donald Trump would have no choice but to go.”
SINGAPORE: As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, the 23,715 Singaporeans enrolled in universities overseas are wringing their hands.
Will they be allowed back on campus? Or will they have to stay home and grapple with online lessons, which may take place in topsy-turvy time zones?
Some may be left hanging with mixed messages from on high. On Jul 6, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that all non-resident students in American colleges enrolled only in online classes will have to leave the country, or face deportation.
But following lawsuits brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the decision was reversed within a week.
It is unlikely that other countries, particularly those popular with Singaporean students, will impose sweeping restrictions like those that America did.
Many universities in popular study aboard destinations such as Australia and the UK are dependent on income from overseas students. In 2018, international onshore student revenue accounted for more than a quarter of all universities’ revenue in Australia.
With COVID-19 forcing countries to close their borders, what do the prospects for Singaporeans keen to pursue an overseas education look like?
EDUCATIONAL DISRUPTION
It’s an understatement to say there won’t be a return to normal campus life at the start of the new semester.
Bikes are seen outside Cambridge University, as the spread of COVID-19 continues. (FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge)
Prestigious universities from Cambridge to Harvard will deliver all lectures online for the academic year of 2020 to 2021. Singaporean students, regardless of if they’re overseas or at home, will in all likelihood have to attend virtual classes this fall.
The shift to virtual classes rightly prioritises the health of students but could result in some learning loss. The educators we work with have observed how online classes reduces interactivity with their students, making it challenging to personalise lessons based on real-time feedback.
Moving overseas to study can be a traumatic experience. My former colleague, a Singaporean who recently embarked on her post-graduate studies in the Netherlands, struggled with loneliness during her first few months of the programme.
Despite having travelled extensively, she found it trying to adjust to a new culture with few friendly faces to count on.
Students who began their overseas education at the start of this year – before lockdowns were enforced – may not have had the time or opportunity to build up a strong social network. They may feel isolated in a foreign country, and struggle to remain motivated and committed to their studies.
Even more worrying than a sense of isolation is the rise of racism targeting those who appear East Asian.
During the early stages of the outbreak in February, Jonathan Mok, a Singaporean student at University College London, was the unfortunate victim of a coronavirus-related racist attack.
Since then, I’ve seen on social media anecdotes from friends and acquaintances of racist abuse, largely verbal, in foreign countries. Fortunately, most cases were not as violent as Mr Mok’s, but nonetheless caused great distress to the victims and their loved ones.
A university student wears her mortar hat following her graduation ceremony from the School of Commerce at the University of Sydney in Australia, Apr 22, 2016. (File photo: Reuters/Jason Reed)
Unfortunately, with increasingly nationalist rhetoric from certain world leaders, it is unlikely we’ll see an end to such antagonism soon.
Recent or soon-to-be graduates who intend to work in their host country may have their plans thrown into disarray.
Mr Gavin Ng, a Singaporean PhD candidate at the University of Illinois, had received a job offer in April as a data scientist with Uber.
However, that offer was rescinded just a month later. The ride sharing behemoth is struggling to keep afloat, having laid off a quarter of its workforce globally in May due to the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns.
With the pandemic likely to cause the worst recession since the Great Depression, most countries would be focused on channelling any available employment opportunities to citizens.
ONLINE DEGREES A SUBSTITUTE FOR OVERSEAS EDUCATION?
As institutions worldwide shift towards online learning, many will question the value of enrolling in a university overseas.
But online learning in tertiary institutions is not a new trend by any measure. Over the past decade, platforms like EdX and Coursera have offered MOOCs – massive open online courses – designed by universities and companies such as MIT and Microsoft.
In some cases, students can earn certifications that are stackable for a degree. EdX has a MicroBachelors programme that provides students with accreditation from established universities like New York University and Arizona State University.
These programmes are significantly more affordable than traditional degree programmes, and allow students to complete the course at their own pace, making them particularly popular with mature learners juggling work and family.
(Photo: Unsplash/Charles Deluvio)
Yet MOOCs have not been seen by most as a substitute for a campus-based education, particularly in a premier institutions. In a post-COVID world, Singaporeans considering an overseas education will likely be more discerning about where they apply to.
The cost of an overseas university education is still significantly higher than one at a local university. An average three-year undergraduate programme at the latter costs around S$25,000, compared to £10,000 (S$18,000) and upwards per year at a UK university.
So if students are going to fork out much more for an overseas education – especially if what they’re getting in return is mostly virtual lectures and seminars – they are going to want the biggest bang for their buck.
With the increased proliferation of online learning spurred by COVID-19, a campus-based overseas higher education will only remain attractive at elite institutions.
Beyond providing their students with quality education, the allure of pedigree schools have more to do with their non-academic perks.
Higher education is a stratified sector, where the name of the institution is often as valuable as the knowledge gained. Marketing can only do so much – the perceived worth of institutions is often built over long periods of time, even centuries.
If pay is any reflection, then employers buy into the brand names of schools too.
From 2015 onwards, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis has consistently reported Ivy League graduates landing the highest starting salary compared to their non-Ivy League peers. Their median starting salary was 55 per cent more than that of US private university graduates in 2019.
A university student graduation. (Photo: Reuters/Brian Snyder)
The other draw of top schools is the opportunity to work closely with world-renowned academics. This will still be possible in an online learning environment, though the lack of face-to-face interaction will dilute the experience and its value.
The best ideas are often the result of heated debates between great minds, and despite the advancements in technology, it’s hard to fully capture the nuances of human interaction online.
Singaporeans also pursue an overseas education to master their craft. Olympic gold-medallist Joseph Schooling, for instance, chose to enrol at the University of Texas at Austin to train with a former coach of the US Olympic swimming team.
Musicians and artists would also want to study abroad for the same reasons.
When international students can return to campus remains a huge question mark. Many countries are only beginning to lift lockdowns, while some states such as Victoria, Australia are forced to re-enter lockdowns due to sudden spikes in infections.
Countries are also more likely to focus on reopening schools before they turn their attention to universities.
But the allure of an overseas university education will likely persist. Once the prerogative of wealthy families and brilliant scholars; an overseas university education is now more accessible to Singapore’s growing middle class.
In the longer term, as COVID-19 begins to recede or a vaccine is developed, an overseas education, particularly at top schools, will remain the dream for ambitious Singaporeans.
Vignesh Naidu is Director, Operations at The HEAD Foundation.
MOSCOW: Russia has produced the first batch of its new vaccine for COVID-19, hours after the health ministry reported the start of manufacturing on Saturday (Aug 15).
President Vladimir Putin announcement on Tuesday that it had been first in the world to approve a vaccine was met with caution from scientists and the World Health Organization who said it still needed a rigorous safety review.
"The first batch of the novel coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute has been produced," the health ministry said in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.
Russia has said the vaccine, the first for the coronavirus to go into production, will be rolled out by the end of this month.
Its approval comes before trials that would normally involve thousands of participants, commonly known as Phase III. Such trials are usually considered essential precursors for a vaccine to secure regulatory approval.
The vaccine has been named "Sputnik V" in homage to the world's first satellite launched by the Soviet Union.
Putin has assured the public that it is safe, adding that one of his daughters had taken it as a volunteer and felt good afterwards.
Moscow's Gamaleya Institute, which developed the vaccine, said previously that Russia would be producing about 5 million doses a month by December-January.
The head of the institute, Alexander Gintsburg, told the TASS state news agency on Saturday that volunteers taking part in the final stage testing of the vaccine's safety and efficacy would have two inoculations.
Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said this week that the vaccine would first be made available to medics and would later be available to all Russians on a voluntary basis.
With 917,884 confirmed infections, Russia's coronavirus caseload is currently fourth in the world after the United States, Brazil and India. Its death toll is 15,617.
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia’s ruling party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) will join the Muafakat Nasional (MN) alliance with the country’s two biggest Malay Muslim parties, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Saturday (Aug 15).
Addressing party members, Bersatu president Muhyiddin said that the party’s entry into the coalition is expected to be finalised soon. MN was formed by Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) in 2018.
“I believe this is the best option for Bersatu,” Tan Sri Muhyiddin said, as his four-year-old party begins to hold its first ever internal elections since its inception over the next week.
The announcement comes at a time when Bersatu has been rocked by members quitting the party to join the newly formed Malay party of former premier Mahathir Mohamad - Parti Pejuang Tanah Air.
Tun Dr Mahathir, 95, founded Bersatu together with Mr Muhyiddin in 2016, but the two of them had split following Dr Mahathir’s resignation as prime minister in late February, which caused the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition government.
Mr Muhyiddin subsequently led Bersatu’s exit from PH to establish a Perikatan Nasional (PN) government together with Umno, PAS and other parties, gaining a slim single-digit majority in Parliament.
“We believe, by being in a coalition with Umno and PAS, and other parties in a grand coalition, the majority of the people’s support will be with us,” Mr Muhyiddin said on Saturday.
“This will pave the way to political stability for the country,” he added.
The decision also comes just weeks after Umno said that it would not be formally joining PN, instead choosing to prioritise strengthening Muafakat Nasional.
Bersatu’s move will likely give Umno an upper hand with regard to future seat negotiations as the possibility of a snap election by the end of the year or early next year looms.
While Bersatu leads the PN government, Umno remains the biggest party - by membership and also in terms of parliamentary representation - in Muafakat Nasional.
MN remains an alliance without a formal registration, with a memorandum of understanding binding Umno and PAS together so far.
Mr Muhyiddin is unlikely to chair MN as well, an analyst said, putting him and his party at a disadvantage in seat negotiations.
“Muhyiddin and his party essentially have no other political exit, as they are being marginalised by Umno and not yet welcomed back by Pakatan,” said Dr Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
Dr Oh told The Straits Times that the only option left for Mr Muhyiddin is to join the alliance with the hopes of retaining the seats that the party currently holds. Bersatu currently has 32 MPs in Parliament, but more than half of its number were secured via defections after the 2018 elections, mostly from Umno. The party won only 13 parliamentary seats during the 2018 elections.
Bersatu also purged 282 party members earlier on Saturday in its attempt to remove those who are aligned to Dr Mahathir. With the purge, Mr Muhyiddin is now the only founding member to remain with Bersatu.
Public policy consulting firm BowerGroup Asia's director Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani said that joining MN was necessary for Mr Muhyiddin's party, as Dr Mahathir's newly formed Pejuang is chipping away at Bersatu's support base.
"With its popularity waning, Bersatu can no longer demand a huge number of seat allocations. In order for Bersatu to survive in the general election, the party must work with Umno and PAS," Mr Asrul Hadi told ST.
He said Mr Muhyiddin's position is largely dependent on the Islamist party PAS - a party that appears to back Mr Muhyiddin more favourably than Umno does, and has agreed to join the Perikatan Nasional coalition he leads.
