MALAYSIA
Rail project postponed
The government has agreed with Singapore to postpone the development of a high-speed rail service by two years, as the nation looks to review mega projects to cut its massive debt. Business weekly the Edge on Saturday cited sources confirming both nations agreed to postpone the project to May 31, 2020, at no penalty to either, to allow the government time to review its finances. Minister of Economic Affairs Mohamed Azmin Ali yesterday confirmed that both sides had agreed to postpone the project at no penalty, and that details would be made clear when a new agreement is signed soon.
FRANCE
Phones banned in schools
Children who were going back to school yesterday after summer vacation would have to do so without their mobile phones. The government passed a law banning phone use in all primary and middle schools for the entire day, including during breaks — with exceptions in cases of emergency and for disabled children. Pupils are requested to shut down their mobiles or put them in a locker. High schools can also voluntarily implement the measure. Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer said it aims to help children focus on lessons, socialize better and reduce social media use.
ISRAEL
Man gets general’s number
A businessman said he received calls and messages from senior Israeli and foreign military officials after he was assigned the former phone number of the nation’s military chief of staff. A report yesterday by Israeli Army Radio identified the man only as Yossi. He said that when he began receiving messages, “a red light went on... if it got in the hands of another citizen I don’t know what would happen.” It was not entirely clear how Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot’s number was passed on to a private citizen. The report said military phone numbers are often reassigned for security reasons. It said the military returned the number to the mobile provider about a year ago. The provider said the number was not classified and was reassigned to another customer.
UAE
Da Vinci exhibit delayed
The unveiling of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Salvator Mundi at the Louvre Abu Dhabi has been indefinitely postponed. The Department of Culture and Tourism yesterday tweeted about the delay, saying: “More details will be announced soon.” It did not respond to a request for comment. The Renaissance oil painting of Christ sold for a record-breaking US$450 million at an auction in New York at Christie’s in November. It was to be displayed from Sept. 18.
UNITED STATES
Yakult soars on teen comedy
Dairy producer Yakult Honsha Co is finding that the power of product placement is so potent it works even when it is mistaken. Viewers of Netflix’s romantic comedy To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before have noticed the main character’s sister drinking a yogurt out of a distinctive little bottle and are talking about it on Twitter, said Mark Bachman, head of research firm M Science’s TickerTags. In the movie, the drink is called a “Korean yogurt smoothie,” but audiences have clearly spotted Yakult’s “distinct red foil top,” Bachman said in a note to clients on Friday. Shares of the stock, which have dropped about 6 percent this year amid slower sales growth, climbed more than 2.6 percent since the movie was released on Aug. 17.
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
Russian hackers last year targeted a Dutch public facility in the first such an attack on the lowlands country’s infrastructure, its military intelligence services said on Monday. The Netherlands remained an “interesting target country” for Moscow due to its ongoing support for Ukraine, its Hague-based international organizations, high-tech industries and harbors such as Rotterdam, the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) said in its yearly report. Last year, the MIVD “saw a Russian hacker group carry out a cyberattack against the digital control system of a public facility in the Netherlands,” MIVD Director Vice Admiral Peter Reesink said in the 52-page
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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