Qatar and the US have announced that Israel and Hamas have struck a ceasefire deal in Gaza, set to take effect on Sunday, January 19. The deal includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestine and the release of hostages held by Hamas. However, ahead of Israel’s cabinet vote on the agreement, Israeli attacks on Gaza have intensified. Ferooze Ali, senior fellow at the Asia Middle East Center for Research & Dialogue, weighs in.

Other stories we covered:

· 'Swap' system for healthcare workers: The Health Ministry is launching a digital platform that will allow healthcare workers to swap placements through a “Pertukaran Suka Sama Suka” system, streamlining the process. To discuss the feasibility of this initiative, we spoke to Dr Timothy Cheng, Chairman of MMA SCHOMOS.

· Pollution turns Sungai Kabul pink: The Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) immediately issued a yellow alert during a routine patrol after seeing the bright pink water flowing in Sungai Kabul. Kennedy Michael, the co-founder of the Alliance of River Three weighs in on the response from LUAS, and how local councils can work to prevent this from happening.

· Three interns for every expat hired: The Human Resources Ministry has announced an initiative called the ‘1:3 Practical Training Policy’ where for every expat employed, up to three local interns must be employed. This initiative is expected to benefit at least 100,000 local students. We speak to Wan Amirah Wan Usamah, research associate at Khazanah Research Institute for her insights on how this initiative could be implemented.

· Baby tapir’s rescue linked to real estate: Puncak Alam, where the baby tapir was found and rescued, was once a thriving green area that over time has been replaced by real estate developments. With animals being forced to seek food and shelter in human habitats, we reached out to experts; Dr Lim Teckwyn, a forest researcher and advisor to the Shah Alam Community Forest Society and Andrew Sebastian, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Malaysia for their thoughts.

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