LONDON, Nov 20 — British-Ghanaian musician Fuse ODG has urged other artists to follow in the steps of Ed Sheeran and speak up about the 1984 hit Do They Know It’s Christmas, which he says perpetuates negative stereotypes of the African continent. “Everyone’s journey is different … but it would be great that as an artist, you use your platform to effect change,” Fuse ODG, known for hits like Antenna and Dangerous Love, said in an interview. “I would urge other artists to take the step and speak up.” The song, one of the most iconic festive tunes of all time, was originally recorded by the Band Aid supergroup of music stars, assembled by rockers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money to fight famine in Ethiopia. Two versions followed for its 20th and 30th anniversaries in 2004 and 2014, featuring other groups of artists, including Sheeran,...

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — The prosecution today withdrew the charge against the late Tun Daim Zainuddin for failure to comply with a notice to declare his assets, citing his death. According to Free Malaysia Today, deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin told the Sessions Court that the charge Section 36(2) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act would no longer be pursued. “We wish to extend our condolences,” Wan Shaharuddin was quoted as saying. The former finance minister died on Nov 13. On January 29, Daim pleaded not guilty to charges of failing to comply with a notice to declare his assets, including several luxury vehicles, companies, and properties across Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, and Kedah. His wife, Toh Puan Na’imah Abdul Khalid, 66, has also been charged with one count of failing to comply with a MACC notice by not declaring assets, which included...

BEIRUT, Nov 19 –– On a mountain slope in south Lebanon, agricultural worker Assaad al-Taqi is busy picking olives, undeterred by the roar of Israeli warplanes overhead. This year, he is collecting the harvest against the backdrop of the raging Israel-Hezbollah war. He works in the village of Kfeir, just a few kilometres (miles) from where Israeli bombardment has devastated much of south Lebanon since Israel escalated its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in September. “But I’m not afraid of the shelling,” Taqi said, as he and other workers hit the tree branches with sticks, sending showers of olives tumbling down into jute bags. “Our presence here is an act of defiance,” the 51-year-old said, but also noting that the olive “is the tree of peace”. Kfeir is nine kilometres from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, in the mixed Christian and Druze district of Hasbaya, which has largely been spared the violence...

MALAGA (Spain), Nov 19 — Italy reached a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup final with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Iga Swiatek’s Poland yesterday in Malaga. Swiatek came from a set down to beat Jasmine Paolini in her singles rubber but the Italian earned immediate revenge over the five-time Grand Slam winner in the deciding doubles clash. Paolini and veteran Sara Errani overcame Swiatek and Katarzyna Kawa 7-5, 7-5 to send the four-time champions through to tomorrow’s final. Great Britain face Slovakia in the second semi-final today. In the opening singles rubber, Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti beat Magda Linette 6-4, 7-6 (7/3). That was followed by Swiatek’s battle with Paolini, which ran over two-and-a-half hours and saw the Pole win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. “It was tough today… the intensity was insane, I was a little bit tired but I said to myself, you still have to play the doubles, you...

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 — President-elect Donald Trump has made a flurry of picks for his cabinet and other high-ranking administration positions following his election victory. Here are the early picks and top contenders for some of the key posts overseeing defence, intelligence, health, diplomacy, trade, immigration and economic policymaking. Marco Rubio, secretary of state Trump tapped US Senator Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state, putting the Florida-born politician on track to be the first Latino to serve as the United States’ top diplomat. Rubio, 53, was arguably the most hawkish option on Trump’s shortlist for secretary of state. The senator has in past years advocated for a muscular foreign policy with respect to US geopolitical foes, including China, Iran and Cuba. Over the last several years he has softened some of his stances to align more closely with Trump’s views. The president-elect accuses past US presidents of leading...

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — The MyRentas QR code immigration clearance for Malaysia-Singapore travellers will be expanded to other modes of transport, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution said today. He said that the trial phase involving motorcyclists and bus travellers had been effective during peak hours and would continue for these two modes of transport after the end of this month. “The decision was agreed upon in principle today, and once we finalise the procurement for these two modes of transport, what’s next? We will focus on expanding the initiative to other modes of transport,” he said in a press conference following the Special Committee Meeting on Addressing Congestion at the Johor Causeway at Bukit Aman here. Saifuddin added that, based on data analysis, the QR code had significantly reduced the time required for travellers during peak hours. “The current M-bike system takes 8 seconds, while the QR code...

NEW YORK, Nov 17 — With a Magritte painting estimated to sell for nearly US$100 million, drawings by pop artist Keith Haring and… a rather gnarly banana, New York’s auction houses will try this week to shake up a stale market. The sale of Magritte’s “Empire of Light” (“L’Empire des lumieres”), which will go under the hammer Tuesday night at Christie’s, will surely be one of the high points of the autumn season, which will see hundreds of works sold – and hundreds of millions of dollars spent. The seminal 1954 work is one of a series of paintings from the Surrealist master depicting the interplay of shadow and light. Its estimated price is US$95 million, which would easily shatter the previous record for a Magritte, US$79 million in 2022. Christie’s is hoping that with the Magritte and a celebrated 1964 painting of a gas station by the 86-year-old American...

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said it has summoned five Sabah lawmakers for questioning over videos alleging abuse in the award of projects in the state. The commission today confirmed receiving a formal report on the matter involving alleged corruption in the procurement of mineral projects in the state. “Preliminary investigations have uncovered information implicating several Sabah state assemblymen in the alleged corruption involving the said businessman. “To date, five assemblymen have been called in for questioning, and investigations are actively ongoing,” the MACC said in a statement. It also urged the public not to speculate about the case and to allow authorities to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation. Earlier this month, the Malaysiakini news portal published four videos that showed a businessman negotiating with a Sabah assemblyman off-screen to support a company’s project proposal in a state. MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam...

LONDON, Nov 16 — A collection of guitars and other musical equipment owned by influential rock guitarist Jeff Beck will go on sale in London in January, Christie’s auctioneers announced yesterday. Some of the 130 guitars, amps and “tools of the trade” used by Beck during his decades-spanning career are expected to fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds (dollars) when they go under the hammer on January 22, it said. They include the rock legend’s 1954 “Oxblood” Gibson Les Paul, famously depicted on the cover of his seminal 1975 solo instrumental album Blow By Blow and used on several tracks. It is estimated to fetch up to £500,000 (RM2.8 million). Beck, who rose to stardom with 1960s supergroup The Yardbirds and later enjoyed a prolific solo career, died in January last year aged 78. His widow, Sandra Beck, said it was “a massive wrench” to part with the instruments but...

POMPEII (Italy), Nov 16 — The world-famous Pompeii archaeological park introduced a daily limit of 20,000 visitors yesterday, the latest Italian tourist site to take action against overcrowding. The “experimental” scheme will see visitors to the Unesco World Heritage Site required to buy named tickets which, in the summer, will be divided into morning and afternoon slots. Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of Pompeii, told AFP the measure was designed to better manage crowd numbers, leading to a more “sustainable” growth. “The idea is not to close Pompeii but to expand Pompeii and better manage the flow,” he said at the launch of the scheme at the historic site near Naples in southern Italy. Last year, more than four million people visited Pompeii, an ancient Roman city buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago. This year is expected to beat this. People walk across the archeological site of Pompeii...