National investigation agency

In the northern hemisphere anyway, winter is on the way, a dangerous time for authorities trying to mitigate the sudden surge of new cases and deaths from Covid-19 in parts of Europe, the UK and the US. With a vaccine timeline still ‘flexible’, the only cushioning to a further spread of the pandemic is more social distancing, face-masks, attention to hygiene. And lockdowns. Whilst there is no evidence that the ambient temperature has much effect on the direct spread or strength of the coronavirus, medical officials say the colder weather brings people indoors where there is more direct interaction of people, accelerating the spread of Covid-19. Th virus continues to rage in South America as well, though it’s heading into its summer instead. In the US, still without a declared winner in the presidential elections, Joe Biden has spent his early days as President-elect pleading with Americans to pay greater attention to the relentless North American surge of Covid-19. President ... » Learn More about In the middle of the Covid pandemic “now is the winter of our discontent”

JOHOR BAHRU (Bernama): A total of 19 cold distribution companies were found to be involved in imported meat cartel activities in an operation conducted in six states simultaneously on Friday (April 9). Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Datuk Huzir Mohamed said seven of the companies were in Johor, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (four), Selangor (four), Perak (one), Penang (two) and Kedah (one). He said the 19 companies were found to have conspired with a local company that was allowed to import frozen meat from Brazil legally. "According to the importer’s permit, the company could only import 27 tonnes of meat for one permit issued. Investigations revealed that the company only used four of five importer’s permits issued for 2020. "The importer, however, was found to have distributed more than 1,000 tonnes to 202 customers, as proven by seized invoices. Investigations also revealed the annual profit of the 19 companies were between RM1 million to ... » Learn More about Police expose 19 distributors involved in imported meat cartel activities

This file photo taken on April 16, 2019 shows charred debris inside Notre-Dame-de Paris in Paris in the aftermath of a fire that devastated the cathedral. April 15, 2021 marks the two years anniversary of the fire that devastated Notre-Dame-de-Paris Cathedral, in the center of the French capital. Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL / AFP PARIS — On the evening of April 15 2019, France and the world watched transfixed in horror as flames ravaged Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, fearful that the heritage landmark could be lost to humanity forever. While the spire collapsed and much of the roof was destroyed, the efforts of firefighters ensured the great mediaeval edifice survived the night. Yet the road to restoration has been long and arduous and it is only expected to return to its former glory in April 2024, five years after the fire. The cause of the blaze remains a subject of uncertainty, although investigators are so far rejecting any idea of foul play and focusing on a ... » Learn More about Two years on, Notre-Dame awaits long path to pre-fire glory

When Teh Nur Shafiqah Ab Samad enrolled in an aircraft engineering technology course at a local university, the 22-year-old soon found herself volunteering to teach kindergarten children about the main parts of aircraft and marshalling signals. Her reason for wanting to be part of the junior aviators programme, run by the Air Scout unit at her university, was fairly straightforward — she wanted to inspire more young people to pursue careers in the field of aviation. “As a child, I was always fascinated by aeroplanes. “Every time, I saw contrails in the sky, I would make a silent wish to be able to work with these amazing machines one day, ” said Shafiqah. Abdul Mueiem showing the milestones of the Malaysian Air Scout movement at the museum within the Scouts Association headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Now in her final year, she has risen through the ranks and is now crew leader of Universiti Kuala Lumpur Institute of Aviation Technology’s (UniKL MIAT) Air Scout unit. Her ... » Learn More about Soaring fascination with planes

For the past two weeks, Mr Vincent Koh has spent his nights on an old, thin mattress laid on the floor inside a cubicle with barely any space left for walking. "It's like popiah skin," he quipped, drawing a parallel between his mattress and the paper-thin skin of the traditional spring roll snack. But Mr Koh, 60, is more than thankful to the shelter for providing him a roof over his head. Inside a room shared by half a dozen others - each in a separate cubicle - he told The Straits Times that prior to the shelter, he had been sleeping on benches at parks and playgrounds after he lost his job as a worker at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre in February and could no longer afford to stay at hostels. He said he entertained thoughts of ending his life when he was sleeping rough. "I was hungry and had no place to sleep. When you're hungry, you have strange thoughts," said Mr Koh, who was referred to a shelter by a social worker at the Family Service Centre he had ... » Learn More about Call for more help as shelters for the homeless hit full capacity during Covid-19 circuit breaker period

Despite public outcry and criticism of some of his policies, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has maintained a high approval rating, a public opinion survey has found. In recent months, Jokowi has been under fire for some controversies including the recent fiasco over the citizenship of Arcandra Tahar, the former energy and mineral resources minister. Jokowi’s tax amnesty program has also been under scrutiny. But all of this has not apparently impacted Jokowi’s popularity or his perceived acceptability. A recent study by the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) found that a majority of Indonesians approve of him and his performance in government. Of the 1,000 respondents that the CSIS interviewed for the survey, 66.5 percent said they were satisfied with the work of Jokowi’s administration. The survey recorded an 10.1 percent increase in popularity from what the administration achieved last year. The study found that Jokowi’s strongest approval ... » Learn More about Jokowi remains very popular: CSIS

The railway, which stretches more than 1,000 km from Kunming, capital of China's Yunnan Province, to Vientiane of Laos is scheduled to open in December this year. Upon completion, it will slash the travel time between the two cities to less than one day, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. The main China section of the railway linking the city of Yuxi and Mohan, a township on the China-Laos border, is flanked by 19 nature reserves with rich biodiversity, three of them at the national level. Located along the railway section, the Shanggang No. 1 Tunnel in Mengla County is of great significance, yet given its location in an environmentally sensitive nature reserve, with a forest coverage rate of 87 percent, as well as abundant minerals and water resources, its construction is particularly complex. "We canceled the original design of the inclined shaft in the reserve to dig the tunnel, reducing its footprint by more than 2.6 hectares," said Huang Ming, a project ... » Learn More about An engineering marvel – China builds green rail linking Laos

Come with creative investment proposals on tourism products and services to make Putrajaya an iconic ecotourism draw. That is the message from Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa to the private sector, as a way to increase the number of visitors to the administrative capital. “As Putrajaya is already a planned city with iconic buildings and complete facilities, private companies can readily utilise them, ” he said during a press conference to announce a glamping project in Putrajaya Wetlands Park. “This means they will not need big capital expenditure but just add value and run promotion programmes to draw attention to their tourism products and services. “We will be open and transparent so that these companies can help make Putrajaya a major recreational city that is eco-friendly and family-oriented, ” he said during the event held in Precinct 3. Annuar noted that Putrajaya was lacking in pull factor, which explained why the 25-year-old administrative capital ... » Learn More about Putrajaya keen to attract ecotourism projects

Following the reports from various European medical agencies regarding the possible link between blood clotting and the AstraZeneca vaccine, and with the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcing announcing their move of temporarily suspending AstraZeneca vaccination for persons below 60, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo Founder Joey Concepcion 3rd highlighted that we should focus on and not forget the huge benefits of the vaccine, which outweigh its potential risks. “Of course, any information like this is a point of concern. Most especially, we are expecting around 22 to 26 million total combined doses of AstraZeneca from the Covax facility for local government units (LGUs) and private sector procurement. However, it’s important to note that the majority of the workforce in the private sector as well as LGUs belong to the age group below 60. So, this greatly affects our population. Vaccinating Filipinos is critical to our ... » Learn More about Concepcion: Huge benefits outweigh risk of AstraZeneca vaccine