IN MALAYSIA
PM Anwar Ibrahim leaves for Turkey to provide moral support
He will visit the disaster area where Malaysian search teams are on duty and meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The PM is accompanied by foreign minister Zambry Abdul Kadir and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak affairs and special functions) Amrizan Mohd Ali.
The prime minister is expected to arrive in Gaziantep at 7.30am (local time) tomorrow to inspect the disaster site and meet with the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team before leaving for Ankara to hold a meeting with Erdogan.
Malaysia to cut subsidies to manage ballooning debt
Malaysia will tackle its rising debt levels through subsidy reduction and good governance instead of imposing new, broad-based consumption taxes, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
The nation’s debts and liabilities stand at about RM1.5 trillion, or 82% of the gross domestic product, which includes 1MDB’s debt of RM18.2 billion. Anwar said the government has no plans to reintroduce the goods and services tax, which was abolished by the Dr Mahathir Mohamad administration in 2018.
MACC probes finances of former minister linked to Pandora Papers
A former minister was reportedly called in by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to provide a statement in relation to the Pandora Papers, which linked several prominent Malaysians to offshore tax havens.
The Pandora Papers refer to the millions of leaked documents put together by an international consortium of investigative journalists and made public in October 2021 that allegedly reveal offshore accounts of present and past leaders, including presidents, prime ministers, billionaires and prominent business people.
No decision yet on digital driving licences
Transport minister Loke Siew Fook says the ministry has yet to decide whether to permanently do away with physical driving licences, admitting that they cannot force people to go digital.
Loke also said that he was aware that not everyone would support the move to digitise driving licences, especially those in rural areas.
“We understand that. The internet is a problem. We don’t force people to go digital.”
Umno division leader pleads not guilty to misappropriating RM440,000
Azahari Shaari, Umno Shah Alam’s division leader faces two charges of misappropriating RM240,000 (RM120,000 each) from Persatuan Belia Bersatu Teguh Shah Alam by using funds allocated for the organisation’s Hari Raya Haji events in September 2017.
He is also alleged to have misappropriated RM200,000 from another organisation, Persatuan Belia Kampung Kuantan Utara, and used the funds to organise an event for orphans in the same month.
