As the first female deputy minister of Malaysia, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail says the country has failed to protect minors, whether from malnutrition or sexual abuse, and she will prioritize making it a safer place for minors, in an interview with The Malaysian Insight.

The former ophthalmologist by training also said that Malaysian women should be granted flexible working hours in relevant areas of employment.

Here’s the interview.

USA sends assistant secretary to open de facto embassy in Taiwan

The United States of America sent assistant secretary of state Marie Royce to Taiwan to open a de facto embassy, the South China Morning Post reported.

The move came the same day that President Donald Trump met his North Korean counterpart in Singapore, considered as a decision to avoid angering China. Marie Royce, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, will open the American Institute in Taiwan, the institute also said in a statement.

2 female hostages held by Al-Qaida’s Mali branch plead for help

Al-Qaida’s Mali branch released a video Wednesday showing footage of two female hostages abducted separately and held for more than a year, according to SITE Intelligence Group, AP reported.

In the video released on Telegram by the Mali-based al-Qaida affiliate, showed Colombian nun Gloria Cecilia Narvaez caring for French aid worker Sophie Petronin.

Addressing to the French government, Petronin expressed a wish to reunite with her family and said she fears of being sacrificed, according to the report. Narvaez addressed Pope Francis thanking him for his interest in her case and pleaded for help intervene to save the ailing Petronin.