The Health Ministry reported 1,219 new Covid-19 cases today and two deaths.

Non-citizens accounted for 36.6 percent of new cases, while Selangor is the state with the most number of new cases. 

• Active cases: 15,075
• Patients in ICUs: 154
• Intubated: 64

Deaths

The two new Covid-19 deaths reported were both in Sabah, which is the state that has the highest number of Covid-19 related deaths in the country. 

Sabah has reported 384 Covid-19 deaths, which is more than Selangor (313) despite having reported only half the number of confirmed cases.

The national Covid-19 death toll stood at 1,220.

Clusters

The Health Ministry reported that there are 429 active Covid-19 clusters in the country, of which 58 saw new cases today.

The new Subang Dua cluster – discovered through the targeted screening of workplaces in USJ – saw 146 new cases, while the rest of the existing new clusters saw new cases in the double digits.

The Health Ministry classified 12 new clusters today, of which five were detected through targeted screening of workplaces.

There were two community clusters and an imported cluster involving a ship crew that sailed from Singapore.

The Health Ministry also reported that a new detention centre cluster had emerged in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan.

Subang Dua cluster
District(s): Petaling, Selangor
Locality/Source: Factory in Jalan Subang 2, Taman Perindustrian Subang
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 16, targeted screening
Total infected: 153 out of 602 screened

Jalan Lada Sulah cluster
District(s): Petaling and Klang, Selangor
Locality/Source: Factory in Jalan Lada Sulah, Shah Alam
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 22, targeted screening
Total infected: 18 out of 327 screened

Meranti Jaya cluster
District(s): Sepang, Selangor
Locality/Source: Factory in Taman Meranti Jaya, Puchong
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 17, targeted screening
Total infected: 8 out of 101 screened

Jalan Merpati cluster
District(s): Miri, Sarawak
Locality/Source: Supermarket in Jalan Merpati
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 7, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 51 out of 310 screened

Kayu Gading cluster
District(s): Batu Pahat, Johor
Locality/Source: Factory in Kawasan Perindustrian Sri Gading II
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 14, targeted screening
Total infected: 36 out of 101 screened

Jalan Perdana cluster
District(s): Seremban and Rembau, Negeri Sembilan
Locality/Source: Educational institute in Jalan Perdana 2, Rembau
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 15, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 23 out of 229 screened

Long Yunus cluster
District(s): Pasir Puteh, Bachok and Kota Bharu, Kelantan
Locality/Source: Government office in Jalan Long Yunus, Kota Bharu
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 13, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 23 out of 214 screened

Banggol Lepah cluster
District(s): Bachok, Kuala Krai, Tanah Merah, Pasir Puteh and Kota Bharu, Kelantan
Locality/Source: Construction site in Kampung Banggol Lepah, Kota Bharu
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 6, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 41 out of 261 screened

Jalan Hang Tuah cluster
District(s): Johor Bahru, Johor
Locality/Source: Unspecified location in Jalan Hang Tuah 24
Cluster category: Community
First case: March 7, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 20 out of 155 screened

Taman Ria Enam cluster
District(s): Tawau, Sabah
Locality/Source: Residential area in Taman Ria 6, Sri Tanjung
Cluster category: Community
First case: March 11, pre-hospitalisation screening
Total infected: 16 out of 85 screened

Tembok Muhasabah cluster
District(s): Jelubu, Johor
Locality/Source: Detention centre in Jalan Kuala Klawang
Cluster category: Detention centre
First case: March 17, targeted screening
Total infected: 49 out of 225 screened

Andromeda cluster
District(s): Muar, Johor
Locality/Source: Ship crew from Singapore
Cluster category: Imported
First case: March 15, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 6 out of 44 screened
https://newslab.malaysiakini.com/covid-19/embed/en/states-chart

Source : Malaysiakini

The families of dozens of people killed in demonstrations against military rule in Myanmar attended their funerals on Tuesday (Mar 16) as protesters again defied the security forces despite the mounting death toll.

Hundreds of mourners spilled onto the street at the funeral of medical student Khant Nyar Hein, who was killed in Yangon on Sunday, the bloodiest day in the weeks of protests that have followed a coup against the elected government on Feb 1.

“Let them kill me right now, let them kill me instead of my son because I can’t take it any more,” the student’s mother was seen saying in a video clip posted on Facebook.

Mourners, including many fellow medical students in white lab coats, chanted: “Our revolution must prevail.”

In other developments on Tuesday, France said the European Union would approve sanctions against those behind the coup next Monday.

The military junta, meanwhile, charged the international envoy of the ousted government with treason for encouraging the civil disobedience campaign and calling for sanctions, army-run television said. The charges carry a possible death sentence.

At least one more protester was shot dead on Tuesday in the central town of Kawlin, a resident there said.

READ: 149 dead, hundreds disappeared in Myanmar unrest – UN

READ: Global alarm grows as more protesters killed in Myanmar crackdown

More than 180 protesters have now been killed as security forces try to crush opposition to the generals who ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government and seized power themselves.

A total mobile internet shutdown made it difficult to verify information and the vast majority of people in Myanmar have no access to WiFi. A junta spokesman did not answer telephone calls to seek comment.

On Tuesday, a crematorium in Yangon reported 31 funerals, a mourner at one ceremony said. Some families told media the security forces had seized the bodies of victims, but they would still hold a funeral.

People held up pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi – Myammar’s most prominent champion of democracy over three decades – and called for an end to the repression during a small protest in the southern town of Dawei on Tuesday, the Dawei Watch media outlet reported. There was no report of violence.

US CONCERN

The army said it took power after its accusations of fraud in a Nov. 8 election won by the Nobel laureate’s National League for Democracy (NLD) were rejected by the electoral commission. It has promised to hold a new election but has not set a date.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, has been detained since the coup and faces various charges including illegally importing walkie-talkie radios and infringing coronavirus protocols.

Martial law has been imposed in several districts of Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial hub and former capital, and other places in the country.

“The military is attempting to overturn the results of a democratic election and is brutally repressing peaceful protesters,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a news conference in Tokyo.

The UN human rights office said “deeply distressing” reports of torture in custody had emerged and five people were known to have died in detention.

“We call on the military to stop killing and detaining protesters,” its spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, said in Geneva.

In a further indication of international dismay at the events in Myanmar, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the European Union would approve sanctions on the generals at a foreign ministers’ meeting next Monday.

Those sanctions will suspend all budgetary support and target economic interests of individuals involved in the coup, he said.

Members of the ousted civilian government, who have set up a parallel administration, called on Total TOTF.PA and other oil firms operating in Mynamar to suspend payments to the military-controlled state.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was appalled by the escalating violence at the hands of the military and called on the international community to help end the repression, his spokesman said.

A junta spokesman did not answer telephone calls to seek comment and Reuters could not independently confirm all the casualties.

CHINESE WARNINGS

China Global Television Network, an English-language international Chinese channel linked to the Communist Party, meanwhile warned against further attacks on Chinese-owned businesses after more than 30 factories in an industrial suburb of Yangon were torched on Sunday.

Beijing is viewed by the opposition movement as supportive of the military and unlike Western powers it has not condemned the coup.

“China won’t allow its interests to be exposed to further aggression. If the authorities cannot deliver and the chaos continues to spread, China might be forced into taking more drastic action to protect its interests,” CGTN said.

When asked what drastic action might mean, China’s mission to the United Nations in New York referred Reuters to previous Chinese statements saying Mynamar authorities must take measures to protect Chinese nationals and businesses.

READ: Chinese workers injured in Myanmar factory attacks, China’s embassy says

China, along with Russia, has prevented the UN Security Council from denouncing the military’s actions as a coup and in the past have shielded the Myanmar’s authorities from any strong action by the body.

Also on Tuesday, the military charged the international envoy of the ousted government with treason, army-run television said.

It said that Doctor Sasa had encouraged a civil disobedience campaign, called for international sanctions and served as special envoy to the United Nations for an illegal organisation.

Sasa – who is not in the country – said he was proud to have been charged.

“These generals have committed acts of treason every day. Taking what they want for themselves, denying the people their rights and oppressing those that stand in their way,” he said in a statement.

“I stand for freedom, I stand for federal democracy, I stand for justice for my country and I continue to call for an end to military brutality and bloody violence.”

Source : channelnewsasia

WASHINGTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin likely directed an effort by Moscow to try to swing the 2020 US presidential election to Donald Trump, according to an American intelligence report released on Tuesday that linked the Kremlin and allies of the former president.

The 15-page report, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, added heft to longstanding allegations that some of Trump’s top lieutenants were playing into Moscow’s hands by amplifying claims made against then-candidate Joe Biden by Russian-linked Ukrainian figures in the run-up to the Nov 3 election. It also added new findings that Putin either oversaw or at least approved of the election meddling to benefit Trump.

The findings about Putin’s role are likely to receive particular attention given the report’s conclusions that Russia-backed figures such as Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach enlisted unnamed US political figures in their campaign to smear Biden and his son Hunter.

The report named Derkach, who met with Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani in 2019, as someone whose movements were being tracked, if not directed, by Putin.

“Putin had purview over the activities of Andriy Derkach,” the report said. “Other senior officials also participated in Russia’s election influence efforts – including senior national security and intelligence officials who we assess would not act without receiving at least Putin’s tacit approval.”

Biden, a Democrat, defeated Trump, a Republican, and became president in January.

US intelligence agencies and former Special Counsel Robert Mueller previously concluded that Russia also interfered in the 2016 US election to boost Trump’s candidacy with a campaign of propaganda aimed at harming his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

Mueller found extensive contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Trump while president also faced questions about ties by his associates with Russia and Russia-linked figures in Ukraine. The US House of Representatives impeached Trump in 2019 – the first of two times – on charges arising from his request that Ukraine investigate the Bidens.

The US intelligence report also found other foreign attempts to sway American voters in 2020 including a “multi-pronged covert influence campaign” by Iran intended to undercut Trump. As president, Trump pulled the United States out of an international nuclear deal with Iran and imposed fresh sanctions.

CHINA COUNTER-NARRATIVE

The report also punctured a counter-narrative pushed by Trump’s allies that China was interfering on Biden’s behalf, concluding that Beijing “did not deploy interference efforts”.

“China sought stability in its relationship with the United States and did not view either election outcome as being advantageous enough for China to risk blowback if caught,” the report said.

US officials said they also saw efforts by Cuba, Venezuela and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to influence the election, although “in general, we assess that they were smaller in scale than those conducted by Russia and Iran”.

The Russian, Chinese and Cuban Embassies in Washington did not immediately return messages seeking comment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations and the Venezuelan Ministry of Information also did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Moscow, Beijing and Tehran routinely deny allegations of cyberespionage and election interference.

The report assessed that Russian leaders “preferred that former President Trump win re-election despite perceiving some of his administration’s policies as anti-Russia”, with its authors adding, “We have high confidence in this assessment.”

A key role was also played by another man with Russian intelligence ties, Konstantin Kilimnik, according to the report. It said Kilimnik and Derkach met with and gave materials to Trump-linked people to push for formal investigations, and Derkach released four audio recordings to try to suggest that Biden had tried to protect his son Hunter from a corruption probe in Ukraine. Giuliani was among those promoting such claims.

Kilimnik was an associate of Paul Manafort, who served as Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman. Trump last year pardoned Manafort for a criminal conviction that stemmed from Mueller’s investigation.

Russian agents also tried to hack subsidiaries of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, “likely in an attempt to gather information related to President Biden’s family”, it said. Hunter Biden had served on Burisma’s board.

As in the 2016 election, the Russian so-called troll factory formerly known as the Internet Research Agency pushed disparaging stories on social media about Biden and Democrats and complained about censorship by the tech companies, the report said. It also sought to exacerbate US divisions on racial justice issues, the report said.

Source: Reuters/ec