Putin blasts West, says world faces most dangerous decade since WWII - CNA

LONDON: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday (Oct 27) that the world faced the most dangerous decade since World War II as Western elites scrambled to prevent the inevitable crumbling of the global dominance of the United States and its allies.

In one of his longest public appearances since he sent troops into Ukraine on Feb 24, Putin signalled he had no regrets about what he calls "a special operation" and accused the West of inciting the war and of playing a "dangerous, bloody and dirty" game that was sowing chaos across the world.

"The historical period of the West's undivided dominance over world affairs is coming to an end," Putin, Russia's paramount leader, told the Valdai Discussion Club during a session entitled A Post-Hegemonic World: Justice and Security for Everyone.

"We are standing at a historical frontier: Ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and, at the same time, important decade since the end of World War II."

The 70-year-old former KGB spy was more than an hour late to the meeting of Russia experts where he gave a typically scathing interpretation of what he portrayed as Western decadence and decline in the face of rising Asian powers such as China.

He appeared relaxed over more than three and a half hours as he was questioned about fears of nuclear war, his relations with President Xi Jinping, and about how he felt about Russian soldiers killed in the Ukraine war, which he cast "partly" as a civil war, a notion Kyiv rejects.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war, while the West has imposed the most severe sanctions in history on Russia, one of the world's biggest suppliers of natural resources.

"DIRTY BOMB"

The Russian leader blamed the West for stoking recent nuclear tensions, citing remarks by former British Prime Minister Liz Truss about her readiness to use London's nuclear deterrent if the circumstances demanded it.

He repeated an assertion that Ukraine could detonate a "dirty bomb" laced with radioactive material to frame Moscow - an allegation dismissed by Kyiv and the West as false and without evidence.

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2022-10-27 18:28:00Z
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Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan reiterates 'deep disappointment' over Myanmar situation - CNA

The regime change has prompted the emergence of opposition movements, some armed, across the country, which the military has countered with lethal action.

Southeast Asian countries have led efforts to bring peace to Myanmar, but the junta has done little to implement the consensus agreed upon last April.

At Thursday's meeting, Dr Balakrishnan urged Myanmar's military authorities to "swiftly and fully implement" the plan, which includes granting the ASEAN Chair's Special Envoy on Myanmar access to all stakeholders and facilitating the swift, equitable and transparent distribution of humanitarian assistance to all in need, without discrimination, said MFA.

"He reaffirmed the need for ASEAN to engage all stakeholders in Myanmar soon and called for constructive dialogue among all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people of Myanmar."

The foreign ministers agreed to continue discussing recommendations to be proposed to ASEAN leaders at the upcoming summits, MFA added.

Thursday's meeting at the ASEAN secretariat in the Indonesian capital was not attended by any representatives from Myanmar.

Myanmar had been invited to send a non-political representative, but the junta did not agree.

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2022-10-27 09:36:00Z
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Helicopter crashes in Malaysia's Cameron Highlands, injuring all 6 people on board - The Straits Times

IPOH, Perak - A helicopter with six people on board crashed in Cameron Highlands on Wednesday. All had injuries, including one with a broken leg.

Perak police chief Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said rescuers had found all six in the hills of Brinchang at around 4pm. The victims had managed to contact the rescue team while waiting to be rescued.

They were in stable condition and receiving medical assistance, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) confirmed, a few hours after the Airbus AS355 F2 helicopter carrying medical personnel and equipment crashed at about 1pm in a forest in Brinchang.

Those aboard the aircraft included medical officers, nurses and a public health assistant from the Kinta Health Department in Perak, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

He added that the team was on its way back to Tanjung Rambutan in Ipoh after completing a regular visit to an indigenous people’s village in rural Kampung Gawin, Gua Musang.

After first responders arrived at the crash site amid heavy rain, emergency medical units were also mobilised to assess the victims’ injuries at a vegetable farm near the site. The last victim was moved out of the crash site at about 9.10pm and taken to hospital.

Mr Khairy said he was planning to visit the victims in hospital on Thursday.

The pilot, who was unable to walk, was the first to be taken to Hospital Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom in Cameron Highlands for treatment.

One of the medical officers on board the helicopter, Dr Murnirah Abd Rahman, was in stable condition and taken to a hospital in Ipoh, her husband told Malaysian news portal Majoriti.

Mr Abdul Latiff Abdul Razak said: “(I am OK) is all she said. Maybe she is traumatised, thank God she is safe. I was told she injured her hip.”

He said his wife, who has been a medical officer for 12 years, has flown on similar medical missions in helicopters to Gua Musang in Kelantan several times, without an incident like this happening.

The helicopter was operated by private charter airline Layang Layang Aerospace, said CAAM chief executive Chester Voo.

The aircraft lost contact with the company’s flight operations centre shortly after taking off at 12.20pm, said Layang Layang. It crashed while attempting an emergency landing at around 1pm. An investigation into why it had to make an emergency landing is under way.

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2022-10-26 17:13:55Z
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Palestinian Prime Minister Shtayyeh visits Singapore from Oct 26 - CNA

SINGAPORE: The prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Dr Mohammad Shtayyeh, will visit Singapore from Wednesday (Oct 26) to Saturday.

His visit to Singapore is the first by a Palestinian prime minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a press statement.

Dr Shtayyeh will call on President Halimah Yacob at the Istana and be hosted to lunch by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

He will have meetings with Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan as well as Dr Maliki Osman, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Education and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Dr Shtayyeh will also visit the Institute of Technical Education College East, as well as the NEWater Visitor Centre.

He will be accompanied by Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al Malki, Governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority Feras Milhem and other senior officials.

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2022-10-26 11:32:00Z
CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vc2luZ2Fwb3JlL3BhbGVzdGluaWFuLXByaW1lLW1pbmlzdGVyLXNodGF5eWVoLXZpc2l0cy1zaW5nYXBvcmUtMzAyNjY1NtIBAA

5 things to know about Rishi Sunak, Britain's first Asian prime minister - CNA

CONTROVERSIES

The couple’s wealth has hurt Sunak politically in the past, with critics saying he could not possibly understand the pain that inflation is causing to the man on the street.  

He has also faced public anger over his wife’s tax status. As an Indian citizen, Ms Murthy is eligible for so-called “non-domiciled” status in Britain, which allowed her to avoid paying UK taxes on the millions she earned abroad. 

She eventually agreed to start paying extra taxes to relieve pressure on Sunak, saying she did not want this to be “a distraction for my husband or to affect my family”. 

Sunak himself was at the centre of controversy when he was fined for breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules in June 2020, when he attended a birthday gathering for then-prime minister Boris Johnson. 

Sunak, who was finance minister then, apologised but rejected calls to quit. 

RECORD RISE

Sunak’s rise - from MP to prime minister in seven years - is also a record-breaking one, in modern times. 

Cameron did the same in nine years. The 18th-century leader Pitt the Younger holds the overall record of two years.

Sunak entered parliament in 2015 as MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire, and served as a junior minister in former prime minister Theresa May's government.

He was then made chief secretary to the Treasury by her successor Johnson, before being promoted to chancellor in February 2020. 

Notwithstanding the flouting of lockdown curbs to party with his boss at the time Johnson, it was also during the pandemic when Sunak's popularity soared, as he unveiled support measures worth £350 billion to help Britons weather the storm.

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2022-10-26 06:53:00Z
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Russia raises accusation at UN of Ukraine 'dirty bomb' plans - CNA

With Ukrainian forces advancing into Russian-occupied Kherson province, threatening a major defeat for Moscow, Russian officials phoned their Western counterparts on Sunday and Monday to air their suspicions.

Russia accused the Kyiv government of ordering two organisations to create a dirty bomb, an explosive device laced with radioactive material, without giving any evidence.

France, Britain and the United States said the allegations were "transparently false" and Washington warned Russia there would be "severe consequences" for any nuclear use.

"Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake for it (to) use a tactical nuclear weapon," US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday. "I'm not guaranteeing you that it's a false flag operation yet, we don't know. But it would be a serious mistake."

INSPECTORS

Britain's Deputy UN Ambassador James Kariuki told reporters: "This is pure Russian misinformation of the kind of we've seen many times before and it should stop."

Russia's defence ministry said the aim of a dirty bomb attack by Ukraine would be to blame Moscow for the radioactive contamination, which it said Russia had begun preparing for.

In an apparent response to Moscow's allegation, the UN nuclear watchdog said it was preparing to send inspectors to two unidentified Ukrainian sites at Kyiv's request, both already subject to its inspections.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters the inspectors would receive full access, and he called on Moscow to demonstrate the same transparency as Ukraine.

Russia's state news agency RIA has identified what it said were the two sites involved - the Eastern Mineral Enrichment Plant in the central Dnipropetrovsk region and the Institute for Nuclear Research in Kyiv.

President Vladimir Putin has not spoken publicly about the dirty bomb allegations but on Tuesday said Russia needed to streamline decision-making in what it calls its "special military operation" to rid its neighbour of extremists. Ukraine and its allies accuse Moscow of an unprovoked war to grab territory.

Putin, speaking at the first meeting of a new council to manage the government's work, said increased coordination of government structures and regions was necessary.

MORE HELP FOR UKRAINE?

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday on his first visit since Russia invaded on Feb 24 as Berlin hosted what it said was a conference on a "Marshall Plan" to rebuild Ukraine, a reference to the US initiative to rebuild Western Europe at the end of World War II.

Thousands have been killed, and homes and factories destroyed, since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

Since Russian forces suffered major defeats in September, Putin has doubled down, calling up hundreds of thousands of reservists, announcing the annexation of occupied territory and repeatedly threatening to use nuclear weapons.

Steinmeier said Berlin was working to help Ukraine with air defence equipment and would focus on assisting with repairs to infrastructure such as power grids before winter arrives.

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2022-10-25 21:41:00Z
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PM Lee congratulates Chinese President Xi on reappointment as Communist Party leader - CNA

"SUBSTANTIVE RELATIONSHIP"

Congratulating Mr Li on his appointment to the 20th CPC Central Committee Politburo Standing Committee, Mr Lee wrote of the "substantive relationship" between Singapore and China.

"Our three Government-to-Government projects – the Suzhou Industrial Park, the Tianjin Eco-City and the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative – continue to be successful examples of what our countries can achieve together," he said. 

"Our multifaceted and forward-looking cooperation has progressed steadily over the years, expanding into new areas such as the digital and green economies.

"I am confident that Singapore-China relations will continue to flourish with the incoming Chinese leadership and as our countries work towards the full restoration of air connectivity."

Mr Lee recalled his last meeting with Mr Li as he rounded off his letter.

"I warmly recall our discussions when we last met in Shanghai in 2018," he said, adding that he looked forward to meeting Mr Li again and working closely with him and his colleagues to strengthen bilateral relations. 

"I wish you every success in your new appointment."

The CPC Central Committee elected Mr Xi as its general secretary for another five-year term on Oct 23.

The 69-year-old is expected to officially secure a historic third term as China's president, due to be formally announced during the government's annual legislative sessions next March.

Mr Li, a former Shanghai party chief and a confidante of Mr Xi's, was elevated to the number two position on the seven-man Standing Committee, making him likely to be named premier during the same sessions.

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2022-10-25 13:52:04Z
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