Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced this at a press conference after chairing the first weekly Cabinet meeting at Perdana Putra on Wednesday.

“The cut is on the minister’s basic salary. This is to help the country’s finances. This has been a practice of mine. I also did the same thing when I became prime minister in 1981,” said Dr Mahathir.

The decision on these projects will be made soon. He said this when asked about the fate of Pan Borneo Highway, Bandar Malaysia and Tun Razak Exchange.

He also announced the disbandment of “non-essential” agencies such as Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), National Professors Council and Special Affairs Department (Jasa).

Present at the press conference were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and all other Cabinet ministers.

The killings took place on August 25, 2017, the report said, the same day that the Rohingya insurgents staged coordinated deadly raids on police posts that tipped the state into crisis.

Myanmar’s military responded to the insurgent raids with harsh reprisals that forced some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims out of the mainly Buddhist country where they have faced persecution for years.

The UN says the army crackdown amounted to “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya, with soldiers and vigilante mobs accused of killing civilians and burning down villages.

But the Rohingya militants have also been accused of abuses.

Those include the mass killing of Hindus in the far north of Rakhine, where the military took reporters — including AFP — to witness the exhumation of putrid bodies from a shallow grave in September.

The militants, known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), denied responsibility at the time.

But Amnesty International said Wednesday that a new investigation had confirmed the group killed 53 Hindus “execution-style” — mostly children — in the Kha Maung Seik village cluster in northern Maungdaw.

“Accountability for these atrocities is every bit as crucial as it is for the crimes against humanity carried out by Myanmar’s security forces in northern Rakhine state,” said Tirana Hassan, crisis response director at Amnesty International.

 – Victims rounded up –

Citing interviews with eight survivors, the rights group said dozens of people were rounded up, blindfolded and marched out of town by masked men and Rohingya villagers in plain clothes.

“They slaughtered the men. We were told not to look at them… They had knives. They also had some spades and iron rods,” 18-year-old Raj Kumari told Amnesty.

He said he hid in the bush and watched as his father, brother and uncle were killed.

The report said that in a separate village nearby called Ye Bauk Kyar, 46 Hindu men, women and children disappeared on the same day. It cited information from local Hindus who believe they were killed by ARSA.

While Rakhine was home mainly to Buddhists and Muslims before the crisis, it also has a small but longstanding Hindu minority — many of whom were brought in by British colonisers looking for cheap labour — as well as several other smaller ethnic groups.

“The killers fled to Bangladesh, there are many witnesses but we have not had any justice,” Hindu community leader Ni Maul told AFP from Rakhine state.

“People have less interest in these killings,” he added, compared to reporting on the atrocities against the Rohingya.

Myanmar has faced a flood of international condemnation for the its persecution of the Rohingya, who are stateless and have been targeted by bouts of communal violence.

The government denies any widespread abuses and has accused rights groups of a pro-Rohingya bias, while highlighting the suffering of other ethnic groups swept up in the violence.

“It is important that the international pressure on Myanmar won’t favour ARSA’s actions,” government spokesman Zaw Htay told AFP when asked about the Amnesty report.

But David Mathieson, an independent analyst, said the report should strengthen the argument for Myanmar to allow independent investigations into the crisis.

Authorities have severely restricted media access to the conflict zone and barred UN investigators from entering the country.

“Failing to grant access to humanitarian aid workers and researchers and journalists will continue the official culture of denial, which has zero credibility in the eyes of the world,” he told AFP.//AFP

But Zuckerberg’s appearance failed to satisfy MEPs who accused him of dodging questions and criticised a format that gave the parliament’s political leaders far more time to give long-winded speeches.

His livestreamed testimony in Brussels was the latest stop on a tour of apology for the Cambridge Analytica scandal that saw him quizzed for ten hours in the US Congress in April, and will take him to Paris on Wednesday.

Zuckerberg said that while Facebook has brought in new features to connect people, it had become clear in the last two years that they “haven’t done enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm”.

“And that goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections or developers misusing people’s information. We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility,” he said in his opening statement.

“That was a mistake, and I’m sorry for it.”

 – ‘Too slow’ –

The European Parliament invited Zuckerberg in March after Facebook admitted that up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked by British consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

A handout photo made available by the European Parliament on 22 May 2018, showing the founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg (R) and Antonio Tajani (L), President of the European Parliament at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, 22 May 2018. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

The firm, which was working for US President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, has since declared bankruptcy.

Zuckerberg originally tried to send a junior executive instead but finally bowed to pressure to appear. However he only agreed for it to be livestreamed on Monday after initially insisting on it being behind closed doors.

Appearing calm and unruffled during the 90-minute hearing, Zuckerberg welcomed the EU’s sweeping new personal data protection rules, which come into effect in three days, saying that his website would be “fully compliant”.

In that spirit, Zuckerberg said Facebook was bringing in new features including a special “clear history” button that would allow them to delete any cookies or browsing history details it stores.

Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook had been “too slow to identify Russian interfering” in the 2016 US presidential ballot but was working with European governments for future elections.

In the run-up to last year’s French elections Facebook “found and took down more than 30,000 fake accounts”, he said.

– ‘Pre-cooked format’ –

But some European lawmakers were still unhappy with the format in which Zuckerberg answered questions for only 25 minutes — half as long as the time it took the parliament’s political leaders to get through their long-winded questions.

“Today’s pre-cooked format was inappropriate and ensured Zuckerberg could avoid our questions,” Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Liberal leader, tweeted afterwards.

The former Belgian prime minister asked Zuckerberg during the hearing if he wanted to be remembered as a “genius who created a digital monster”.

Manfred Weber, the German head of the centre-right European People’s Party, the largest group in parliament, said the Facebook chief was “not very convincing” and “did not answer all our questions”.

But European Parliament President Antonio Tajani — who invited Zuckerberg and arranged the meeting — called Zuckerberg’s visit a “success” even if he said his apology was “not enough” and required follow up.

Zuckerberg meanwhile pledged that Facebook would make fresh investments to protect its users in the wake of the scandal — with many of those in Europe where he plans to have 10,000 employees by the end of the year.

“It’s going to take time to work through all of the changes we must make. But I’m committed to getting it right, and to making the significant investments needed to keep people safe,” he added.

“I expect this will significantly impact our profitability. But I want to be clear: keeping people safe will always be more important than maximising our profits.”

Zuckerberg is due to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday.

Officials said there was no “immediate threat” to the Puna Geothermal Company (PGV) a 38-megawatt plant run by the state of Hawaii.

Still, “cracks near the Puna Geothermal Company are active and producing lava that slowly flows into the property, which destroyed the old Hawaii Geothermal Project in an area adjacent to the PGV,” it said.

This image released by the US Geological Survey on May 22, 2018 shows lava spattering as a helicopter flies over K?lauea Volcano’s Lower East Rift Zone shows fountaining at Fissure 22 taken on May 21, 2018. // AFP PHOTO

Authorities are closely monitoring the situation in this hot air turbine electrical plant.

As a precaution, flammable chemicals were removed from the plant and the wells were filled with cold water.

For now, there’s a steam release.

Civil defense also indicated that the constant eruptions from crack number 22 continue to feed another dangerous lava channel that goes to the ocean.

When fiery lava hits water, it produces acid fumes, a phenomenon called “laze” — a word in English formed from the terms “lava” and “haze”.

It is a mixture of hydrochloric acid (HCl), steam and small particles of volcanic glass.

This US Geological Survey (USGS) image obtained May 20, 2018, shows channelized lava emerges on K?lauea Volcano’s lower East Rift Zone on May 19, 2018,on Hawaii’s Big Island.  // AFP PHOTO

Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and one of five on the Big Island of Hawaii.

It erupted May 3, forcing the evacuation of 2,000 people from their homes located on the mountain.

Scientists believe volcanic activity may be a precursor to a major eruption, similar to one that occurred on the island in the mid-1920s.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced this at a press conference after chairing the first weekly Cabinet meeting at Perdana Putra on Wednesday.

“The cut is on the minister’s basic salary. This is to help the country’s finances.

“This has been a practice of mine. I also did the same thing when I became prime minister in 1981,” said Dr Mahathir.

The decision on these projects will be made soon.

He said this when asked about the fate of Pan Borneo Highway, Bandar Malaysia and Tun Razak Exchange.

He also announced the disbandment of “non-essential” agencies such as Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), National Professors Council and Special Affairs Department (Jasa).

Present at the press conference were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and all other Cabinet ministers.

Under former president Barack Obama the National Park Service (NPS) in 2015 had prohibited a number of practices — considered cruel and harmful by animal protection groups — on national preserves in Alaska.

In addition to baiting and use of spotlights, banned methods include hunting wolves and coyotes during their denning season, the use of dogs to hunt bears, and the killing of swimming caribou from motor boats.

The NPS in a statement said reversing the ban on those practices would “establish better consistency” within the state of Alaska, where such methods are allowed in areas not under federal protection.

“This proposed rule will reconsider NPS efforts in Alaska for improved alignment of hunting regulations on national preserves with State of Alaska regulations, and to enhance consistency with harvest regulations on surrounding non-federal lands and waters,” the park agency’s regional director Bert Frost said in the statement.

The proposed reversal, published Tuesday in the Federal Register, is open for public comment for two months, after which the NPS will make a final ruling.

The Republican Congress has already reversed some regulations adopted under a Democratic majority, including in April 2017 when it lifted a ban on hunting bears in Alaska from a helicopter or airplane.

The Trump administration has made a habit of sparking outrage among animal welfare organizations.

In November 2017 the US government controversially reauthorized American hunters to import lion and elephant safari trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia.

And in March 2018 Trump’s new high-level council dubbed the “International Wildlife Conservation Council” met for the first time.

The panel — created and chosen by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a hunter himself — is chaired by a coal mining tycoon known for his home jammed with stuffed big game animals.

The council is otherwise comprised of big game hunters and professional hunting guides.

    One of the canvas souvenir bags, decorated with the initials of the bride and groom, has already received bids of 50,000 pounds (57,000 euros) on auction website e-bay, with two days of bidding still to go.

The pack contains a marriage order of service booklet, a commemorative chocolate coin, wedding labelled spring water, a royal wedding fridge magnet and a tub of shortbread, made especially for Saturday’s wedding day.

Some of the bags given to the 2,640 members of the public lucky enough to receive an invite inside the grounds of Windsor Castle were going for thousands of pounds within hours of being put up for sale online.

One of the vendors described the lot as “a piece of history and Royal Wedding memorabilia given to celebrate a very special day.”

Among the invitees rubbing shoulders with royals and A-List celebrities were 1,200 members of the British public, 200 members of charities supported by the couple, 610 people from the local Windsor community, around 100 students from nearby schools and 530 royal staff.//AFP

Thai Norak Satya, spokesman of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said on Sunday that measures taken against celebrity Denny Kwan were garnering positive results.

“Her attitude has changed, and she has engaged in social and humanitarian works. Therefore we decided that we would lift the ban,” Satya said, noting they had been initially called to act by a public outcry.

“People critique the ministry for ignoring such things. So we work on it.”

Satya said that while the ministry cannot directly prevent those in the entertainment industry from hiring her, owners of entertainment companies complied. He said the act wasn’t meant to restrict women.

Kwan could not be reached for comment. However, in comments posted to Facebook, she stated that she accepted the decision.

Ros Sopheap, head of Gender and Development for Cambodia, raised the concern that women in the entertainment industry would be more fearful of expressing themselves, as they don’t want to face a similar ban.

“Now when the ministry was successful in banning her, it makes other women scared, and there is no space for women in her profession.”