His steps to set the tone of his administration come despite the unprecedented spectacle of a President who has lost the election declining to accept reality. Sources tell CNN that Trump campaign aides are considering their own aggressive strategy -- not to finally tackle the virus that has killed more than 237,000 Americans -- but for the President to possibly hold rallies to bolster his false claims that his second term has been stolen.

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PETALING JAYA: More than 30,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have closed shop since the movement control order (MCO) was implemented in March.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today said 9,675 SMEs ceased operations during the first phase of the MCO from March 18 to June 9, and 22,794 during the recovery MCO (RMCO) phase from June to September.

“The highest figure was recorded in August with 17,800 SMEs ending operations,” he said, citing statistics from the Companies Commission of Malaysia, in a parliamentary written reply to June Leow Hsiad Hui (PH-Hulu Selangor).

Leow wanted to know the number of SMEs that had closed shop since the MCO was enforced to stem the spread of Covid-19 and what the ministry was doing to counter this.


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(CNN)President Donald Trump's inner circle is beginning to split over his ongoing refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, as Jared Kushner and first lady Melania Trump advised him to come to terms with President-elect Joe Biden's victory and his adult sons pressed him and allies to keep fighting.

Kushner, the President's son-in-law and senior adviser, has approached him to concede, two sources told CNN. The first lady, according to a separate source familiar with the conversations, has privately said the time has come for him to accept the election loss.

Meanwhile, Trump's two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have urged allies to continue pressing on and they have pushed Republicans and supporters to publicly reject the results even as CNN and other news organizations projected the race for Biden on Saturday.

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PETALING JAYA: Some 32% of Employees Provident Fund contributors (EPF) have a balance of around RM1,000 in their Account 1, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz has revealed.

In an interview on TV3 last night, Tengku Zafrul also said 10% have a balance of around RM5,000 and below in their Account 1.

Speaking on the issue of EPF withdrawals, he said there was a need to find a long-term solution for contributors as the data showed that 42% of contributors have around RM5,000 or less in their Account 1.

“This is a structural issue which needs to be resolved because social safety nets are important, the government has to think in the medium and long term.”


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• The CEOs of U.S. tech companies and Silicon Valley luminaries celebrated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ victory Saturday.
  
• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who has had a rocky relationship with President Donald Trump throughout his term, said Biden and Harris’ victory signifies that “unity, empathy and decency are not characteristics of a bygone era.”
  

• The opinion sections of many countries’ major newspapers lent a celebratory tone to the news, while others soberly described the stark challenges that confront the American president-elect facing a divided nation, ongoing partisan battling over results and a country engulfed by a pandemic. 
  
• Many British papers focused on the enduring legacy of the now lame-duck Trump, who is refusing to accept Biden’s victory and is launching legal challenges in several states.