SHAH ALAM: A 64-year-old woman who has been picking up trash to make ends meet will no longer have to do so thanks to a mystery donor.

Zaidah’s (not her real name) dream of owning her own ice cream stall has now become a reality, and she does not even know the identity of the good Samaritan who provided her the means to fulfil her dream.

“I don’t know who helped me, I don’t know who they are, I don’t even know what they look like.

“But I pray that this person will have good fortune, a long life and good health,” she told FMT under the tent of her ice cream shop in front of her home at Kampung Melayu Subang.


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A Pennsylvania postal worker has recanted claims that supervisors attempted to backdate ballots mailed after the election, according to congressional aides. The false allegations were cited by the Trump campaign and top Republicans as examples of voter fraud impacting the results of the presidential election.

Richard Hopkins, a Postal Service worker from Erie, Pennsylvania, alleged that he overheard supervisors discussing a plan to backdate mail-in ballots for Election Day.

The Trump campaign, which, like the president, has rejected the results of the election and alleged widespread -- and unsubstantiated -- voter fraud, passed Hopkins' account to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, who referred the matter to the Justice Department and FBI for investigation.

But Hopkins walked back his assertions when questioned by federal investigators with the Postal Service Inspector General's office, the leader of the watchdog agency told the House Oversight Committee staff on Tuesday.

"IG investigators informed Committee staff today that they interviewed Hopkins on Friday, but that Hopkins RECANTED HIS ALLEGATIONS yesterday and did not explain why he signed a false affidavit," committee Democrats said in a statement posted to Twitter.


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PETALING JAYA: More Malay and Indian students have enrolled in Chinese vernacular schools this year compared with 2010, according to Education Minister Radzi Jidin.

In a written parliamentary reply, Radzi said there was an upward trend in data with the enrolment of Malay students increasing from 9.15% in 2010 to 15.33% in 2020.

Meanwhile, the enrolment of Indian students and students of other races also increased slightly from 1.67% to 2.75% and 1.02% to 1.67%, respectively, in the same period.

“However, the percentage of enrolment of Chinese students in Chinese vernacular schools showed a decrease from 88.16% in 2010 to 80.25% in 2020,” he said in answer to a question from Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PH-Setiawangsa).


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• Apple’s new laptops and desktop uses its own chips, instead of processors from Intel.
  

• Apple is making the move because it already makes its own phone and tablet processors, and it says it can improve laptop battery life.
  

• Intel has also fallen behind on manufacturing, and Apple’s chip manufacturing partner is more advanced, analysts say.
  

But the US president-elect - who has been making contact with foreign leaders - insisted nothing would stop the transfer of power.

Mr Trump meanwhile tweeted he would ultimately win the race that he has been projected to lose.

As happens every four years US media projected the winner of the election.

None of the state-by-state results have yet been certified, several vote counts are continuing, and the outcome will only be set in stone once the US Electoral College meets on 14 December.


What did Biden say?

The president-elect was asked by a reporter on Tuesday what he thought of President Trump's refusal to acknowledge defeat.

"I just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly," Mr Biden, a Democrat, said in Wilmington, Delaware.

"The only thing that, how can I say this tactfully, I think it will not help the president's legacy."

"At the end of the day, you know, it's all going to come to fruition on January 20," he added, referring to inauguration day.


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KUALA LUMPUR: Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob has confirmed that there is no need to scan the MySejahtera app when refuelling if people do not enter the station’s shop to pay for petrol.

This follows conflicting reports on whether people are required to scan the app’s QR code even if they were paying at the petrol pumps or through the shop’s pigeonhole.

“For individuals who make transactions inside the petrol station’s shop, whether to buy petrol or goods in the shop or to withdraw money from the ATM, then they are required to register with MySejahtera or manually,” he said at a press conference today.

He added that those who use the station’s toilet or surau must register, whether with the app or manually.


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The US attorney general, William Barr, has authorized federal prosecutors to begin investigating “substantial allegations” of voter irregularities across the country in a stark break with longstanding practice and despite a lack of evidence of any major fraud having been committed.

The intervention of Barr, who has frequently been accused of politicizing the DoJ, comes as Donald Trump refuses to concede defeat and promotes a number of legally meritless lawsuits aimed at casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election. Joe Biden was confirmed as president-elect on Saturday after he won the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania.


Republicans back Trump challenge to Biden election victory


Barr wrote on Monday to US attorneys, giving them the green light to pursue “substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities” before the results of the presidential election in their jurisdictions are certified. As Barr himself admits in his letter, such a move by federal prosecutors to intervene in the thick of an election has traditionally been frowned upon, with the view being that investigations into possible fraud should only be carried out after the race is completed.

But Barr, who was appointed by Trump in February 2019, pours scorn on such an approach, denouncing it as a “passive and delayed enforcement approach”.

The highly contentious action, which was first reported by Associated Press, was greeted with delight by Trump supporters but with skepticism from lawyers and election experts. Within hours of the news, the New York Times reported that the justice department official overseeing voter fraud investigations, Richard Pilger, had resigned from his position.


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"This election is not over," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told a news conference. "Far from it."

She made a flurry of allegations of election corruption, although no evidence of systemic fraud that might have influenced the result has emerged.

Mr Trump, a Republican, has not conceded the race.

What are Biden and Trump up to?

Since media projected on Saturday that Mr Biden had won the critical state of Pennsylvania, accumulating enough votes to claim the White House, the president-elect has forged ahead with his plans to take reins of the power.


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