Our lettuce outlasted Liz Truss, British paper declares, as PM quits - CNA

LONDON: To the strains of Britain's national anthem, a national newspaper on Thursday (Oct 20) declared a lettuce the victor in a race to see if it could outlast Liz Truss, after the under-fire prime minister resigned.

The tabloid Daily Star set up a live feed on Friday showing the unrefrigerated iceberg next to a photo of Truss, asking readers: "Which wet lettuce will last longer?"

It later expanded the tableau, adding a wig, a face and grasping hands to the vegetable, as well as two British flags, a pasty on a plate and a red mug bearing the legend "Keep Calm and Carry On", a slogan used to raise morale in Britain during World War Two.

More than 12,000 Twitter users were watching the feed as Truss announced her resignation outside the prime minister's Downing Street residence.

Moments later, as viewer numbers hit 21,000, God Save the King rang out as a hand reached across the table and set Truss's photo on its back and the caption "The lettuce has outlasted Liz Truss" appeared.

The stunt echoed a comment at the other end of Britain's journalistic spectrum. In a column published last week titled "The Iceberg Lady", the Economist magazine described Truss as having "the shelf-life of a lettuce".

Truss's political role model, 1980s prime minister Margaret Thatcher, was widely known as the Iron Lady.

Appointed on Sep 6, Truss succumbed to mounting pressure after being forced to sack her finance minister and closest political ally, Kwasi Kwarteng, following a disastrously received economic package that sent shockwaves through financial markets.

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2022-10-20 13:22:09Z
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Liz Truss resigns after six weeks as UK prime minister - CNA

LONDON: Liz Truss said on Thursday (Oct 20) she was resigning as British prime minister just six weeks after she was appointed, brought down by an economic programme that sent shockwaves through the market and divided her Conservative Party.

Speaking outside the door of her Number 10 Downing Street office, Truss accepted that she had lost the faith of her party and said she would step down next week, becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.

Truss, who had said on Wednesday she was a "fighter and not a quitter", told the mass of journalists gathered in Downing Street that she realised she could no longer deliver on the promises that won her the Conservative leadership.

"I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party," said Truss, who was supported only by her husband with her aides and loyal ministers noticeably absent.

A new leadership election will be completed by Oct 28. Those expected to run include former finance minister Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, a former defence minister.

Jeremy Hunt, the man brought in to rescue the public finances, has ruled himself out.

Party members and Conservative lawmakers are expected to be given a say in the vote. A poll earlier this week showed that most members wanted former prime minister Boris Johnson - who was ousted from Downing Street in July - to return.

Britain is not scheduled to hold a national election for another two years. 

Betting odds put Sunak as the favourite, ahead of Mordaunt and Johnson.

Appointed on Sep 6, Truss was forced to sack her finance minister and closest political ally, Kwasi Kwarteng, and abandon almost all her economic programme after their plans for vast unfunded tax cuts crashed the pound and British bonds. Approval ratings for her and her Conservative Party collapsed.

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2022-10-20 12:43:00Z
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China Is Debating a Reduction to Covid Quarantine for Inbound Travelers - Bloomberg

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1. China Is Debating a Reduction to Covid Quarantine for Inbound Travelers  Bloomberg
2. China considers reducing COVID-19 quarantine for visitors: Report  CNA
3. Hong Kong may let VIP bankers who get Covid-19 exit on private jets  The Straits Times
4. China Stocks Pare Loss on Report Authorities Mull Quarantine Cut  Bloomberg
5. China considers shorter COVID quarantine for visitors - Bloomberg News  Reuters
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2022-10-20 08:03:03Z
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Russia, Iran defiant as West presses sanctions over drones in Ukraine - CNA

If the UN Secretariat or Secretary-General Antonio Guterres still go ahead, "we will have to reassess our collaboration with them, which is hardly in anyone's interest", Polyanskiy said.

Iran's UN envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, also rejected the "unfounded and unsubstantiated claims" on the drone transfers and said that Tehran, which has abstained in votes on the Ukraine war, wanted a "peaceful resolution" of the war.

The alleged arms transfers come as Iran is facing growing pressure over its crackdown on the biggest protests in years, which were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old detained by the clerical state's notorious "morality police."

"SWIFT AND FIRM" RESPONSE

The European Union is expected to approve sanctions over the drones ahead of a summit on Thursday in Brussels.

A list seen by AFP showed the 27-nation bloc planned sanctions on three senior military officials, including General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, as well as drone maker Shahed Aviation Industries, an aerospace company linked to the powerful Revolutionary Guards.

Nabila Massrali, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said the bloc had "gathered our own evidence" and would prepare "a clear, swift and firm EU response".

The United States has charged that the drones violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231 of 2015 that blessed a now moribund nuclear deal.

The resolution's ban on Iran's conventional arms sales expired in 2020, despite attempts by the then-US administration of Donald Trump.

The United States has not spelled out the purported violation but Resolution 2231 still bars through October 2023 any transfers that could benefit nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.

"Iran's supply of these specific types of UAVs to Russia is a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, and it is an issue for the UN Security Council," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.

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2022-10-19 21:58:00Z
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Malaysia to go to the polls on Nov 19 amid worries over monsoon season - CNA

An election had not been due until September 2023, but Mr Ismail Sabri had been under pressure from some factions of his ruling coalition to hold the vote earlier.

On Sep 30, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) supreme council decided that parliament must be dissolved soon so that GE15 can be held this year.

UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is facing 47 charges of criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering, had been very vocal in pushing for snap polls, ostensibly to seek a fresh mandate from the people.

UMNO’s call for an early GE15 has been criticised by the opposition and Mr Ismail Sabri’s own Cabinet members as Malaysia’s Meteorological Department has warned of floods during the north-east monsoon season, which typically starts in November and ends in March.

Following the dissolution of parliament, Malaysia’s King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah said he had no choice but to consent to the dissolution of the parliament.

In a statement on Oct 10, Comptroller of the Royal Household of Istana Negara, Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, said that the ruler was disappointed with the current political developments in the country.

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2022-10-20 04:21:00Z
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China’s Xi Crowned `People’s Leader’, A Position That’s Only Comparable with Mao - Bloomberg

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China’s Xi Crowned `People’s Leader’, A Position That’s Only Comparable with Mao  BloombergView Full coverage on Google News
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2022-10-19 21:00:00Z
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Putin demands all-Russia war effort as he declares martial law in occupied Ukraine - CNA

LONDON: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (Oct 19) he was introducing martial law in four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine that Moscow claimed last month as its own territory but is struggling to defend from Ukrainian advances.

In televised remarks to members of his Security Council, Putin boosted the security powers of all Russia's regional governors and ordered the creation of a special coordinating council under Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to step up the faltering war effort.

He said the "entire system of state administration", not only the specialised security agencies, must be geared to supporting what Russia calls its "special military operation".

The package of moves, nearly eight months into the war, marked the latest escalation by Putin to counter a series of major defeats at the hands of Ukrainian forces since the start of September.

The US State Department said Russia was resorting to "desperate tactics". A Kyiv official said it would change nothing.

The published Kremlin decree ordered an "economic mobilisation" in eight regions adjoining Ukraine, including Crimea, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014.

It placed them in a special regime one step below martial law and allowed for the restriction of people's movements.

Putin conferred additional powers on the leaders of all Russia's 80-plus regions to protect critical facilities, maintain public order and increase production in support of the war effort.

But it was far from clear how fast or how effectively the new measures might bolster Russia's military position on the ground. They came as Russian-installed officials in Ukraine's occupied Kherson region told civilians to leave some areas as soon as possible in anticipation of an imminent Ukrainian attack.

Russia expert Mark Galeotti said on Twitter the moves amounted to "a declaration of variegated martial law across the whole of Russia", with some level of emergency regulation now applying across the whole country.

He said it was unclear whether regional officials would use the extra powers as Moscow wanted, ignore them, or exploit them as opportunities to embezzle state resources.

The Russian-installed acting governor of occupied Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, confirmed that he would hand power to the military, according to Russian news agencies. But many regional chiefs - including Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin - said they did not plan to make any immediate changes.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter: "This does not change anything for Ukraine: We continue the liberation and de-occupation of our territories."

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2022-10-19 12:11:00Z
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