KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Deputy Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji today said that it was impossible for the Kelantan state government to be unaware that there was an iron ore mining area near the settlement of Orang Asli of Batek tribe in Kuala Koh, Gua Musang.

He also described Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah’s statement denying the existence of the mining area as utterly absurd because the ministry’s check had found that the miner had obtained the licence to run the mining operation until 2023.

“Before any mining company is allowed to operate, they are required to obtain a mining licence from the state government and an operating licence from the federal government. Or else, they will be categorised as illegal miners.

“Upon checking, we found that the mining company had obtained the mining licence until 2023… but the operating licence issued by the federal government had been terminated in 2017 as the company failed to comply with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report.

“So, the statement (that there was no such mining area) is utterly absurd because I personally had gone to the area and saw that the mining machines and equipment were still there,” he told Bernama when contacted here today. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin said today she believed that the sex videos implicating a senior party leader, who is also a minister, were fake and meant to assassinate the latter’s political career.

Zuraida also said she believed the sex videos were released now as the ruling government nears the two-year mark when Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is meant to hand over power to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Pakatan Harapan previously presented the time period for the transition after winning the 14th general election on May 9 last year.

“I believed they’re all fake and it’s a conspiracy to kill [the person’s] political career like in the case of DSAI,” Zuraida told Malay Mail.

Last night, Muhammad Haziq Abdul Aziz, the senior private secretary to Primary Industries Deputy Minister Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, allegedly admitted on his Facebook page to being the other person in the video that purportedly features a PKR leader.

Haziq’s Facebook page also describes him as the PKR Youth Santubong chief.

The implicated minister’s press secretary told Malay Mail today that his office would release a statement once more information is obtained.

Several videos of roughly 90 seconds each began circulating on social media early yesterday morning and depict a man performing sexual acts on another man that allegedly resembles a minister.

Malay Mail could not reach Shamsul Iskandar for comment.

Such allegations are not unprecedented in PKR.

Anwar was previously accused of sodomy twice — in 1998 and again in 2008 — involving two different men. Dr Mahathir had sacked Anwar in 1998 as deputy prime minister over alleged corruption and sodomy, though the court overturned Anwar’s sodomy conviction in 2004.

The PKR leader was convicted in his second sodomy trial under the Najib administration, but the Yang di-Pertuan Agong granted him a royal pardon and freed him shortly after PH won the 2018 election.

In 2011, the PKR president was also a target of a similar sex video released by former associate Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah along with Datuk Shuib Lazim and Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, collectively known as the “Datuk T” trio.

HONG KONG: China’s central bank moved to shore up the yuan with a stronger-than-expected fixing and a planned bond sale in Hong Kong.

The People’s Bank of China set its reference rate at 6.8930 per dollar Tuesday, 0.2% higher than traders’ and analysts’ average forecast of 6.9089. The strong bias in the daily fix – which restricts the onshore yuan’s moves by 2% on either side is the largest since Bloomberg started releasing the survey estimates since August 2017. The central bank also said it plans to sell bills in Hong Kong later this month, a move that will drain liquidity and support the currency.

The yuan started to weaken in early May as a trade war with the US escalated and the economy slowed. Bears got a new catalyst to build short bets on Friday, when the central bank’s chief Yi Gang hinted that China doesn’t have a red line for the yuan and it may further ease monetary policy. The exchange rate slid to the weakest this year Monday, sparking debate on whether or when China will allow it to break the key 7 level for the first time since the financial crisis.

“Forget about the psychological 7 level,” said Khoon Goh, head of research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., adding that the fixing will stay stronger than 6.9 before the Group of 20 summit. “Today’s fixing sends a clear message that the authorities are still intent on keeping the yuan stable, and have no desire to see it weaken further.”

Trump Says He’ll Raise China Tariffs If Xi Won’t Meet at G-20

US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping may meet at the G-20 summit in Osaka this month. Traders will be closely watching the gathering to gauge the outlook for trade negotiations and the yuan.

The onshore yuan advanced for the first time in five days, rising 0.16% to 6.9195 per dollar as of 10:14 a.m. in Shanghai. The offshore yuan gained 0.18%

PUTRAJAYA, June 11 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today the federal government is still “collecting data” for the planned targeted fuel subsidy, with just one month left to its own July deadline.

Earlier this year, the Pakatan Harapan administration said it expected to roll out the system by July 1, amid scepticism from both experts and the public due to the complexities of targeted subsidies.

“We are still collecting data,” Dr Mahathir told the press after chairing the third Economic Action Council meeting here.

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KUALA LUMPUR: Mahkamah Tinggi hari ini diberitahu Najib Razak menambah klausa dalam perlembagaan SRC International Sdn Bhd dalam mesyuarat agung luar biasa (EGM) untuk menjadikannya “adviser emeritus” syarikat itu.

Bekas pengerusi SRC International, Ismee Ismail berkata, pindaan itu secara tidak langsung memberi kuasa kepadanya untuk mengawal syarikat itu yang terletak di bawah Kementerian Kewangan (Diperbadankan).

Katanya, ini dimaklumkan dalam minit mesyuarat pemegang saham pada 23 April 2012 yang ditandatangani Najib.

Tetapi, lokasi EGM itu tidak didedahkan.

“Minit itu menyatakan Perkara 117 ditambah dalam Memorandum dan Artikel Penubuhan SRC International.

“Katanya, perdana menteri (Najib) dijadikan ‘adviser emeritus’ SRC International dan lembaga pengarah akan memberi pertimbangan serta melaksanakan sebarang nasihat ‘adviser emeritus’ demi kepentingan syarikat,” katanya apabila ditanya Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Ishak Mohd Yusoff.

Berita lanjut menyusul.

PUTRAJAYA, June 11 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad admitted today that doing business in the country remains tough and said his government must work harder to reduce administrative barriers.

Citing the construction sector as an example, he noted that developers must sometimes undergo up to sixty processes to get a particular project fully approved.

“When we evaluate even when we have a one-stop centre, doing business is still very much difficult,” he told the press after chairing the third Economic Action Council meeting here.

The issue was among the two matters deliberated by the high-powered council that Dr Mahathir formed to spur the economy, following complaints that the economy stagnated after Pakatan Harapan took power last year.

Dr Mahathir said the Chief Secretary has been instructed to identify and formulate solutions to ease the business process.

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