KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — The federal government has maintained the existing method for oil royalty payments to Kelantan, Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said.

He said the government has agreed for the funds to be channelled directly to state coffers and consistent with the Federal Constitution.

Responding to the Kelantan mentri besar’s claim the state was receiving the “wang ehsan” ex gratia payments instead of a royalty for oil, the minister said he did not understand why the former made such a claim.

“For now, we are using the old method and it will not be handled by the federal government, but paid straight to the state government as a constitutional right.

“I am not sure about the allegation about that being wang ehsan as the PH principle is to channel fund directly to the state according to the set rate,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

The federal government pays a five per cent royalty on the value of oil extracted from the individual states.

This morning, Kelantan MB Datuk Ahmad Yakob told his state assembly that Kelantan only RM15.7 million in “wang ehsan” on September 17.

Ahmad was responding Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s remark on Monday that royalty payment had been made last month on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s instructions.

KABUL: Kira-kira 60,000 wanita Afghanistan dilaporkan menghidap penyakit kanser payudara setiap tahun, kebanyakannya di ibu kota Kabul, lapor agensi berita China Xinhua.

Menurut akhbar itu, satu survei yang dijalankan sebuah badan bukan kerajaan Yayasan Kanser Afghanistan (ACF) di 10 daripada 34 wilayah di negara itu telah mendapati Kabul memiliki jumlah pesakit kanser payudara paling ramai.

“Kabul memiliki jumlah pesakit kanser payudara paling ramai diikuti wilayah-wilayah Balkh, Panjshir dan Kapisa,” lapor akhbar itu memetik kenyataan Jawad Safi, pemimpin ACF.

Mengesahkan perkata itu, sumber Kementerian Kesihatan Awam Afghanistan (MoPH) berkata kanser payudara adalah penyakit paling berbahaya kepada wanita selepas penyakit jantung, lapor akhbar tersebut.

“Mencegah penyusuan badan, merokok dan obesiti adalah penyebab utama kanser payudara di negara ini,” lapor akhbar itu memetik kenyataan pakar perubatan Nasrin Oryakhil.

Di seluruh negara, menurut laporan media, hanya terdapat satu jabatan onkologi dengan 65 katil, tetapi tanpa rawatan kemoterapi dan tiada radiasi di Hospital Jamhuriat (Republikan) di Kabul, lapor akhbar itu.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced more funding and support today to target violent extremist content online, just months after an alleged white supremacist livestreamed a massacre at two mosques in Christchurch.

The attack on March 15 that killed 51 Muslim worshippers was livestreamed on Facebook, and the video was shared on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook-owned apps Whatsapp and Instagram.

Ardern said the government was investing NZ$17 million (US$10.73 million) over four years to boost New Zealand’s ability to find, stop and stamp out terrorist and violent extremist content online quickly.

The investment would be used to double the investigative, forensic, intelligence and prevention work of the Department of Internal Affairs, she announced at a press conference.

A new team of 17 people will be dedicated to tackling such content, the government in a statement.

The new department’s powers include investigating and prosecuting those committing offences through both proactive detection and working with international and domestic partners, it added.

“Our online world must be a force for good where we can exchange ideas, share technology, and maintain civil liberties, while protecting New Zealanders from objectionable content,” Ardern said in the statement.

“Countering violent extremism online is an important part of our response to the March 15 terrorist attacks,” she added.

Silicon Valley tech giants and world leaders have endorsed a movement by Ardern called “Christchurch Call” which aims to establish ethical standards for tech companies and media outlets to avoid amplifying violent extremist content online.

Their commitment was tested last week as social media firms scrambled to scrub footage of a shooting outside a German synagogue that was livestreamed on Amazon’s gaming subsidiary Twitch.

As with Christchurch, full copies and portions of the German video quickly began appearing elsewhere online, shared both by supporters of the gunman’s anti-Semitic ideology and critics condemning his actions.

Ardern said in a press conference later that the attack in Germany last week was another reminder of the threat of online extremism.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 — The government has designed a three-year financial roadmap to put Malaysia back on fiscal track and restore the country’s economic health despite entrenched uncertainties brought about by the US-China trade war which has permanently reoriented the global supply chain.

The government is on track to achieve the targeted deficit of 3.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019.

The fiscal target is revised to 3.2 per cent of GDP in 2020 from 3.0 per cent previously, but it remains on track to reach 2.8 per cent in the medium term.

“The increase from 3.0 per cent to 3.2 per cent might not sound a lot, but remember — when it comes to spending, it is not only about how much is spent but also on what the spending is on,” Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said in his speech at the 2020 Budget Forum, here today.

He said a lot of the measures in the Budget will not only support growth in the short term, but also ferment the foundations necessary for Malaysia transform structurally into the decades ahead.

The measures are in line with the recently launched Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 which require the creation of prosperity before there is prosperity to be shared.

“Incentivising businesses and attracting foreign investment with incentives valued at RM10 billion over 10 years, together with the RM6.5 billion job creation programme which creates 350,000 jobs, will put Malaysians back to work and back in business.

“The 2020 Budget I tabled last week outlines the policy direction this government is taking. My message is simple: Malaysia is reindustrialising by digitalising our economy, by integrating with the global supply chain better and by incentivising honest work,” he said.

Lim noted that Malaysia needs more private investment in high-value areas that could unlock greater productivity growth. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 — Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng today denied asking the police to stop their investigations into DAP leaders suspected of having links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

When asked by reporters to clarify his alleged statement, Lim said he had never issued one in the first place.

“Please read my statement. Don’t distort my statement. Have you read my statement?

“What I said, clearly, of course in my capacity as DAP secretary-general, was we were unhappy with these arrests but I never asked the police to stop investigating.

“When did I ever said that?” he said during a press conference after attending the Budget 2020 Forum at the St Regis Kuala Lumpur here.

Last Sunday, Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division (E8) Deputy Commissioner Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay contradicted Lim on further DAP arrests over LTTE links.

Ayob said he was unclear if anyone else gave Lim such an assurance or if the latter came to the conclusion personally.

He stressed, however, that investigations would continue without fear or favour.

Lim reportedly said he was informed that no other DAP leaders were among those still to be arrested in the case.

“I was also informed that while more people will be arrested for alleged links to LTTE, no more leaders or wakil rakyat from DAP will be targeted,” Lim said in his statement.

When pressed further later on exactly what was said in the statement, Lim replied that his statement may turn out untrue if he was advised wrongly. 

“I mentioned wakil rakyat, isn’t it? If that is not true, then I have been advised wrongly lah,” he said.

Pointing out the utmost clarity in his statement, Lim again reiterated that he never asked the police to stop their investigations.

“Read my statement again and then come and ask me in Parliament. Otherwise, you are not doing justice to what I have said,” he added.

On Thursday, the police confirmed Seremban Jaya assemblyman P. Gunasekaren and Gadek assemblyman G. Saminathan were among five people arrested on suspicion of supporting the LTTE.

The LTTE was a separatist group that had been active in Sri Lanka until it was officially defeated in 2009. It has been classified as a terrorist group by 32 countries including Malaysia, which did so in 2014.

Since last week, police have detained 12 people in a crackdown against LTTE-linked organisations and individuals.