The exclusive report aired Friday on Jornal Nacional, Brazil’s most respected newscast, said that 48 deposits of 2,000 reais each were deposited into the bank account of Senator-elect Flavio Bolsonaro between June and July 2017, when he was a Rio de Janeiro state lawmaker.

That totals to 96,000 reais, or about $30,000 at the average exchange rate of that year.

A Council for Financial Activities Control (COAF) document quoted in the report said the origin of the money was unclear, but the fact that they were all of the same amount and made at a bank at Rio’s state legislative assembly, where Bolsonaro worked, made them suspicious.

The news broke a day after Brazil’s supreme court temporarily suspended a probe into transactions in the bank account of Flavio Bolsonaro’s driver, Fabricio Queiroz, which totaled $300,000 — an amount deemed suspicious because it does not appear to be commensurate with his income.

One of the transfers was a deposit of $6,400 into the account of Michelle Bolsonaro, the president’s wife.

Flavio Bolsonaro and Queiroz both deny any wrongdoing.

In a television interview late December, Quieroz denied acting as a front for the Bolsonaros and said the money came from side businesses he ran, “buying cars, selling cars.”

The president has tried to downplay the affair, saying that if any “mistake” was made it would be “paid.” He said the payment from Quieroz’s account to his wife’s was partial repayment of an undeclared loan he had made to his son’s driver.

The stories are hugely embarrassing for Bolsonaro, who swept to power zero tolerance for corruption and vowed to end years of political graft that damaged his country’s reputation.

One of the lawyers, Muhammad Mahendradatta, said the decision was purely based on humanitarian reasons and was provided for in Indonesian law

“This plan is free from political interest and is not unusual in our legal mechanism. The public don’t need to credit the government for this, or praise [Jokowi’s administration] for releasing a member of the ulema, for the sake of devotion to the ulema. It’s not that,” he said.

Mahendradatta explained that the legal basis of the plan was in the Law No. 12/1995 on Prison, which is separate from the Criminal Code (KUHP). In the Prison Law, he said, prison terms could be reduced if the prisoner faced declining health or advanced age.

“This means less time in prison, we call it remission […] it’s already Baasyir’s right by law,” he said.

He added that Jokowi did not suddenly came up with the decision, because the legal team had sent a letter to Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu seeking Baasyir’s release and it had government support since then, following discussion with legal experts, including those from the Presidential Palace.

“This might be the result of that process,” Mahendradatta said, adding that the release had nothing to do with Jokowi as any president might have done the same.

The President’s lawyer, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who is also an adviser to the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin presidential-election campaign team, concurred that the 80-year-old cleric’s release was free from any political motive, but acknowledged that it was carried out as a special measure.

Baasyir, who is eligible to be released on parole on Dec. 13, insists on defying a general condition of parole that requires him to express loyalty to the national ideology Pancasila, which is stipulated in Government Regulation No. 99/2012 on sentence reduction for inmates, including those convicted of terrorism.

Yusril said that Baasyir would continue to insist that he ”would only obey God.”

“I spoke to Jokowi about this. We have been running back and forth on Pancasila. While [Baasyir’s] condition is getting worse. And [the President] understood, therefore, he would simplify the mechanism,” he said.

Jokowi agreed that Baasyir’s parole would not require him to express a commitment to Pancasila.

“So [Baasyir] will be released unconditionally. His house will not be guarded by police. He can opine that democracy is a transgression [of Islam]. We will let him,” said Yusril.

He added that the President had the discretion to override a regulation, as long as it was not a law and there was a strong argument for doing so.

Its Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh on Twitter had acknowledged the criticism and said that there will be an overhaul of all similar social media postings of her ministry.

“An overhaul of all similar social media postings by @KPWKM. Thank you for the feedback and there will be improvement,” she tweeted on Thursday (Jan 17) night.

The ministry had initially put up messages about the causes of baby dumping.

Twitter user John Teo had criticised the poster, saying that blaming baby dumping on the lack of religious upbringing and promiscuity was “totally misguided”.

“Placing vulnerable women and girls to shame have untold consequences. What we need is non-judgemental compassionate support. Please amend such posters,” he said.

Meanwhile, Twitter user Shafiq Fernandez had also called for the shaming to end.

“Let’s stop the shaming! We need to provide a safe haven for women who are put in a situation where they can’t take care of their babies. Perhaps in the list one should add – reason for abandonment: irresponsible men!” he said.

While Asean has shown its willingness and readiness to help solve the Rohingya crisis and ensure the safe return of thousands of refugees, the situation in Rakhine state is not safe enough for stakeholders to get to work, Foreign Minister Don Pramuwinai said on Friday.

An intense discussion on the violence in Rakhine was held during the retreat meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Chiang Mai, in which they reflected on the 10-nation bloc’s decision at last year’s Singapore summit to help ease the crisis.

Asean has commissioned its Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) to help provide assistance to the displaced Rohingya.

Team waiting to be dispatched

Asean Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi, who visited Myanmar from December 16-18, briefed the ministers about the terms of reference for the Needs Assessment Team to be dispatched to the strife-torn state.

More than 700,000 Rohingya people have fled from Rakhine state since August 2017, when militant attacks to security outposts prompted a military “clearance operation”. They suffered atrocities including arson, torture, murder, gang rape and massacre while fleeing to the Bangladesh border.

While the United Nations and United States loudly protested against these actions, some even calling it a “genocide”, Asean refrained from making any judgements and only commented on the need for a humanitarian response.

Myanmar and Bangladesh reached a deal to repatriate the first batch of refugees mid-November, but failed to implement it due to resistance from refugees who feared for their safety.

The Muslim minority are treated as outsiders in the predominantly Buddhist state, where they are called “Bengali” as a rejection of their Myanmar heritage, and refused citizenship.

Myanmar delegates at the Chiang Mai meeting briefed their Asean counterparts on their perspective of the situation, but the details were not made publicly available.

While the terms of reference of the needs assessment team was endorsed by a meeting of high-level strategic coordinators during Lim’s visit to Myanmar last month, a schedule for the team to visit Rakhine for its mission could not be fixed.

The initial schedule set for January 12-26 was postponed, as the situation on the ground is not conducive for the team to get in, Don told a press briefing on Friday. He added that a new timeline could not be fixed.

However, Don said the discussion on the issue fully supported the role of Asean in helping the Myanmar government in the repatriation process, adding, “[we] hope it will take place as soon as possible”.

In addition to collective efforts, Don said that many Asean members, including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, had provided assistance to Myanmar on the matter. Thailand has some agriculture projects in Rakhine state, he noted.

In his press statement issued as chair of the meeting, Don said Asean had “stressed the need to find a comprehensive and durable solution to address the root cause of the conflict, and to create a conducive environment so affected communities can rebuild their lives”.

And its founder says that had the app been created or treated like an ordinary communication tool, it would have not been as successful as it is.

“WeChat, actually, is a communication tool but for us it’s [built to be] a lifestyle,” Allen Zhang, the creator of WeChat, said during a four-hour speech at Tencent Holdings’ annual WeChat conference for developers and partners held in Guangzhou last week.

If the multi-purpose messaging and social media app had been built merely as a communication tool, its capability would have been limited, he said.

So, its creators tried to imbed the app with people’s lifestyle needs in order to influence the general public, said Zhang who is senior executive vice president and president of WeChat Group.

As the head of QQ Mail Mobile at the time, Zhang in 2010 led a team of 10 developers to create the first version of WeChat in less than 70 days. He joined Tencent in 2005 and became the head of QQ Mail Mobile after his Foxmail business was bought by Tencent.

WeChat last September reached an important milestone by achieving 1 billion active users. The app and its ecosystem of mini-apps have become a feature in daily life for the majority of Chinese people who seemingly rely on it to do all of their daily chores, from messaging to paying bills to booking public services.

During its journey so far, the app has achieved many breakthroughs, the 49-year-old executive said.

“We changed people’s lifestyles on payment with WeChat Pay mobile payment, they get more friends from checking mobile phones with contact lists, they feel lucky when they get red packets or ‘Ang Pao’ at Chinese New Year,” said the so called Father of WeChat.

With the “People nearby” feature, “it means there are friends always with you in all corners of your lives,” he said.

During his speech, Zhang highlighted WeChat’s Mini Program as one of its core innovative features.

WeChat has tried to build an ecosystem within their app and the Mini Program is a key element in completing that ecosystem, Zhang said.

Launched in 2017, the built-in Mini Program connects online and offline merchants and extended services, such as WeChat Pay, to create a digital and smart living experience that is truly mobile.

Uses have no need to get out of WeChat in order to browse or download external apps in order to see or get other promotions, Zhang said.

“It has already achieved a huge success, but is still improving – especially the search tool that will lead customers to exactly what they are looking for,” he added.

More than 600 million people use the Mini Program at least weekly for services or products from over 200 industry segments, according to WeChat. The number of transactions increased six-fold in 2018. And the feature has now opened for business owners to create their own mini apps in the WeChat ecosystem.

Zhang encouraged developers to develop a Mini Program, allowing high quality programs to proliferate and ensure that users can find just the right program at exactly the time they want it.

The two-day event, the WeChat Open Class PRO 2019, is the firm’s largest annual event. It is a venue for developers and partners to discover the latest digital trends in China and share unique perspectives and the best practices for WeChat.

At the conference, WeChat released its 2018 data report showing that continued growth on the number of people connected to the app. Its usage grew across all age groups, but especially among those over age 55 years who had the fastest growth of any age group last year.

The report claimed that the number of messages being sent continued to rise, with 45 billion messages sent daily, up 18 per cent on the previous year. The number of audio and video calls daily has reached 410 million, an increase of 100 per cent from 2017.

Businesses are also rapidly adopting WeChat, including WeChat Pay, its digital payments platform service, along with its Mini Program to extend mobile and to better connect with customers.

The number of monthly payments by WeChat Pay in 2018 in some industries had seen a considerable increase over the previous year. The retail industry’s monthly WeChat Pay users jumped 150 per cent in the year, and the food industry’s hit a 170 per cent increase.

Monthly users turning to WeChat to pay for public transportation last year soared 470 per cent from 2017. Monthly WeChat Pay users for public medical and healthcare services increased 290 per cent year on year.

At WeChat Open Class PRO 2019 held in Guangzhou last week, the Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings showcased a range of cutting-edge services and products that use those technologies to facilitate “smart business” and “smart living”.

The services or solutions are provided by Tencent and WeChat for its business partners and to facilitate the experience of WeChat users.

Highlights of the event:

Smart shopping

The automated shopping “scan-to-buy” service based on WeChat’s Mini Program has been widely introduced in physical stores, including Carrefour and Walmart. Shoppers can use their WeChat Pay to scan and transfer money without having to go to the cashier counter or wait in long queues.

A payment system based on facial recognition has also been adopted in some stores to enable shoppers to pay and exit quickly.

Fashion retailers offer shoppers in China this payment method. When customers choose their clothes they can scan their face at a screen to pull up their shop member account and then place the clothes at a counter that uses a radio frequency identification reader (RFID reader).

The payment is processed without the need to scan their mobile QR code to pay.

Smart hotels

Leading hotels Hilton, Shangri-La and InterContinental Hotel in China, among others, are using Tencent’s advanced cloud and AI technologies, social networks and payment tools to build futuristic smart hotels.

What makes the hotels “smart” is that guests can book rooms, check in remotely and use their phones as key cards – all on the WeChat app.

Guest identity is verified at the hotel through facial recognition, which grants access to a digital keycard, and also gives access to services like breakfast vouchers and a 24-hour butler that can be called up through WeChat.

Guests can also order room service, adjust things like air conditioning, curtains and lighting, and make payments via the app.

Smart car parks

WeChat has built an automated payment system, or pay-by-plate, that leverages payment and licence plate-recognition technologies. Users can free their hands from their smart devices when paying for car parking.

Users have the option to register their licence plate numbers under their WeChat accounts. Their plates are then scanned by specially set-up cameras at the exits of car parks.

The AI-based system automatically matches the captured image of the plate number with the company’s database of WeChat Pay users to determine the subsequent account and settle the parking fees.

Smart fuel stations

Licence plate recognition, together with Mini Program and WeChat payment, allows a Chinese service station to provide an intelligent refuelling experience for drivers.

WeChat users can link their WeChat account to car plates to perform automatic payment.

When entering the service station, the system will automatically identify the driver’s pre-filled licence plate, read the product preferences and automatically scan the drivers’ past fuel history. This allows cars to begin refuelling the moment they arrive.

After the fill-up, the Mini Program will automatically settle the payment and send the receipt to the driver on WeChat.

Medical robots

Pharmacies across China use humanoid robots with software developed by Tencent to give initial analysis of customers’ symptoms and to suggest a prescription. After seeking advice from the “E-doctor”, patients move on to purchase the over-the-counter medications.

On Thursday (Jan 17), Israel condemned Malaysia’s ban on Israeli participation in international sporting events it hosts and said the decision was inspired by Dr Mahathir’s ”rabid anti-Semitism”.

Malaysia does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel and Israeli athletes have been barred from the World Para Swimming championships to be held in Sarawak.

The Malaysian Foreign Minister said that for more than half a century, Israel has continued to disregard the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, while committing inhumane policies and practices that are in clear violation of international laws.

The Minister reiterates that Malaysia has and will always be a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, underpinned by its long-standing commitment towards the restoration of Palestinians’ rights and freedom

It was reported that Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon had called on the International Paralympic Committee, which is organising the competition, to change the venue if it cannot persuade Malaysia to lift the edict.

“This is shameful and totally opposes the Olympic spirit,” Nahshon said in a statement.

Swimmers from some 70 countries are expected to compete in the July 29-Aug 4 championships in Sarawak, an important milestone towards next year’s Tokyo Paralympics.

A nine-month-old baby who was in the back seat of the other car, a Kia hatchback, was also uninjured, while one woman in the vehicle broke her wrist and the other cut her knee, local police said.

“We are aware of the public interest in this case, however, as with any other investigation it would be inappropriate to speculate on the causes of the collision until an investigation is carried out,” a police statement said.

Images published by the British media showed a dark Land Rover on its side by the curb, driver’s side down, its windscreen smashed, glass and metal debris scattered across a road running by a leafy park.

“I was driving home and I saw a car, a black (Land) Rover come out from a side road and it rolled,” witness Roy Warne told BBC Radio on Friday.

The Land Rover “was turning on its side over and over,” he told The Sun newspaper in a separate interview.

He said one of the two women in the Kia “was the mother of the child and she was quite upset”. Philip and the other driver were given breath tests, which is standard police procedure. No alcohol was detected.

The accident made the headlines in most British papers, which cover the royals’ every move, and sparked a robust media debate about the wisdom of driving at Philip’s age.

“MY LEGS! MY LEGS!” The Sun splashed on its front page — in what Prince Philip reportedly “yelled” as he was pulled from the wreckage.

“I was blinded by the sun,” the paper quoted him as saying.

– Love for speed –

Philip, known for his forthright manner and off-colour jokes, retired from public life in 2017 and underwent a hip replacement operation last April.

Tall, slim and built like a retired soldier, the former air force pilot spends most of his time driving, gardening and enjoying family life at royal estates, according to Buckingham Palace.

He was last seen in public with the queen at Princess Eugenie’s wedding in October.

But he missed the royal family’s annual Christmas Day church service.

Known as the Duke of Edinburgh in Britain, Philip is also famous for his love for speed.

The royal family website says the duke “learned to fly all type of aircraft”, passing a Royal Air Force test in 1953.

In 2016, alongside the queen, he drove former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle around Windsor Castle after they landed nearby in the presidential helicopter.

At a meeting scheduled before the crash, the local county approved a recommendation to lower the speed limit on the road where the accident happened from 60 to 50 miles per hour (from 97 to 80 kilometre per hour).

– ‘Age old debate’ –

The accident stirred up what The Sun described as Britain’s “age-old debate” about whether and when the elderly should give up driving.

The issue is especially sensitive in the case of the royals, with the Daily Mail noting: “There’s only one person who can tell him to stop driving. But will she dare?”

The queen was reportedly at the duke’s side when he checked in for a brief hospital visit, but has issued no public comment.

Official figures from November show 110,790 people aged 90 or over still held driving licences. The oldest were four people who were 107.

In Britain, licences expire when a person turns 70 and have to be renewed through a simple self-assessment test every three years.

“There will be some surprise that the duke still drives himself on public roads,” BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond wrote in a commentary.

“But he has always been fiercely independent, and would have resisted any suggestion that he be denied the right to drive himself.”

The Daily Mail asked whether the duke would now “sacrifice one of his last indulgences”. The BBC’s Dymond suggested that he might. “It might be that the duke is about to be persuaded to give up the wheel.”

The bombers touched mid-air during a scheduled training exercise 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the shore in Russia’s Far East, Russian news agencies reported citing the defense ministry.

Two pilots were later rescued during an operation involving several vessels of the country’s Pacific Fleet as well as aircraft.

Neither of the jets carried munition.

Authorities are mulling the possibility of setting a time limit for young Malaysians to be out of the house without adult supervision, to shield them from negative activities and influences.

Such a curfew would help prevent them from getting into trouble, particularly when it comes to drugs, authorities believe.

This was among matters raised and agreed upon at the Cabinet Committee on Eradicating Drugs meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

She said authorities were seriously considering a curfew for children under 18 as records show that glue sniffing is serious among the young.

Malaysia would not be the first country to introduce a curfew on teenagers and children, with Iceland having something similar.

“We are looking at this policy practised by Iceland. This is a model that we can emulate.”

A healthy message: Dr Wan Azizah showing the anti-drugs campaign pamphlet to the media after the meeting in Putrajaya. — Bernama

“It may not be easy to implement but we feel this is necessary and can definitely help prevent young people from being involved in negative activities,” she said after chairing the meeting here yesterday.

Under Iceland’s Child Protection Act, children under 12 may not be outdoors after 8pm unless accompanied by an adult.

Children aged 13 to 16 may not be outdoors after 10pm, unless they are on their way home from a recognised event organised by their school, sports organisation or youth club.

Those who break the curfew are taken to a police station and their parents will have to pick them up there.

However, some have questioned Iceland’s law, saying it contravenes United Nations’ Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency and also violates the human rights of children.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Eradicating Drugs also discussed drawing up a law to prevent, treat and monitor abusers of psychotropic substances, including inhalants such as glue.

Dr Wan Azizah also said that a new law to deal with psychotropic substance abusers is in the pipeline, adding that this is aimed at tackling the use of inhalants and glue sniffing habits among youth.

“This is still at the proposal stage. We have yet to figure out the punitive actions as well as educational elements that we want to have as part of the law.

“But what is for sure is that we need to ensure that our future generation is not addicted to psychotropic products and glue sniffing,” she said, adding that while the habit might not look as dangerous as injecting oneself with drugs, the effect of glue sniffing is equally, if not more, dangerous.

The Cabinet Committee meeting also agreed to make it mandatory for the public to seek approval from the authorities to grow ketum.

While the planting of ketum trees is not a crime, doing this on a commercial scale, including picking and processing the leaves, has been an offence under the Poisons Act 1952 (revised in 1989) since 2004.

Ketum is used as a painkiller as well as an energy booster, but its abuse can lead to addiction.

Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin recently said the growing of ketum should be banned in Malaysia because it has been abused by drug users.

Dr Wan Azizah said to encourage drug addicts to seek treatment, the committee proposed those who “check-in” into rehabilitation centres voluntarily be left out from the offenders’ registry.

“We hope this initiative will inspire them to seek help to kick their addiction, and by not registering them as drug offenders, we hope this will lift the stigma to give them a chance to have a new life and assimilate into society,” she added.