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Let’s get you up to speed with the day’s stories.
Olympic champion Joseph Schooling’s admission of drug use might have tarnished his reputation, but brand experts that CNA spoke to say he still has a chance to repair his image and bounce back.
One of his sponsors, Hugo Boss, affirmed that its partnership and support for Schooling remains “strong and unwavered”.
What is needed next is for him to explain why he did it, one communications expert said. Another said the saga could even make Schooling more relatable and more attractive as a partner for some brands.
Public opinion has been split, with some expressing sympathy for him while others called for him to be treated like any other person who has broken the law.
Schooling has seen his fair share of ups and downs since winning Singapore’s first Olympic gold medal. Here is a timeline of what has happened since.
Mahathir Mohamad, 97, has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been hospitalised for observation.
The former Malaysian prime minister has a history of heart problems and has had heart attacks and bypass surgeries.
He has received at least three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with the last known shot in November 2021, according to earlier comments made by him and Malaysian government officials.
Tourists will be able to visit Japan from next week on package tours without a guide. The move comes as the country moves to ease COVID-19 controls. From Sep 7, Japan will also raise its daily cap on the number of people allowed to enter from 20,000 to 50,000.
The measures fall short of a full reopening and visitors are still required to book their trips through agents and obtain visas.
Meanwhile, South Korea says it will end the pre-departure COVID-19 test rule for travellers to the country starting on Sep 3. However, they still need to take a PCR test within the first 24 hours of their arrival.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, has died at the age of 91.
He forged partnerships with the West that brought down the Iron Curtain and ended the Cold War. But his internal reforms helped weaken the Soviet Union to the point where it fell apart, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the century.
Gorbachev will be buried in Moscow’s Novodevichy Cemetery next to his wife Raisa.
Reactions to his death in Russia were restrained, with some paying tribute to the hope he had brought, and others noting that the country was still dealing with the turbulence that his democratic and economic reforms unleashed.
Rosmah Mansor filed an application seeking the removal of the judge who heard her corruption case.
The wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak contended that she has lost faith in the judge’s ability to hear her corruption case following the recent alleged leak of a judgment that purportedly pronounced her guilty in the matter.
She is facing three charges of soliciting and receiving bribes totalling RM194 million (US$43 million). The judge, Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, is set to deliver his verdict on Thursday.
Rosmah’s husband, Najib Razak, is currently serving a 12-year sentence for corruption.
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