Mahathir says willing to forget 'betrayal' to cooperate with PN but Muhyiddin refused - The Straits Times

ALOR SETAR – Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad says his new coalition is willing to work with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance to defeat Umno in Malaysia’s Nov 19 general election, Bernama reported, but the latter has refused to meet him.

Tun Dr Mahathir said his Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) coalition is willing to work with PN despite being “betrayed” by Mr Muhyiddin in February 2020, when Mr Muhyiddin led a group of lawmakers to defect and join up with Umno, causing the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government.

“I thought it is okay, even though he had stabbed me in the back before; for the sake of our people, country and religion, we are willing to humble ourselves to cooperate with Muhyiddin, even after he had betrayed me. I am willing to forget about it.

“But... he said he did not want to cooperate with anyone. How arrogant,” Dr Mahathir said, when speaking at the GTA rally in Alor Setar, the capital of Kedah state, on Friday night, as quoted by Bernama.

The Mahathir-led GTA is the fourth coalition in Malaysia’s crowded election space and is the smallest political bloc.

Dr Mahathir, 97, is pro tem chairman of GTA, whose four MPs are from his new party, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air.

The other members of GTA are even smaller political parties with no seats in Parliament.

The biggest electoral battles are expected to feature Umno-led Barisan Nasional, which has 42 MPs; PH (90 MPs), which is led by opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim; and PN (49 MPs).

GTA’s overtures to work with PH have also been rebuffed.

Dr Mahathir claimed that Mr Muhyiddin, 75, is confident that PN can win the election without cooperating with any party and is still interested in becoming prime minister for the second time.

Dr Mahathir said GTA has never refused to cooperate with any party to defeat Umno.

“I know people like to see opposition parties unite so that we can defeat Umno, but when we asked them (PN) to cooperate, they refused. We are ready, even in GTA, we have four parties, we are united, but they don’t want to (cooperate),” he said.

Meanwhile, GTA pro tem deputy chairman Mukhriz Mahathir said the coalition planned to contest about 120 parliamentary seats, and the candidates will be announced on Nov 2.

He said the actual number of seats would be finalised later, adding that it would field candidates in no less than 10 parliamentary seats in Kedah, Dr Mahathir’s home state.

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2022-10-29 09:16:05Z
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Biden calls attack on US Speaker Pelosi's husband 'despicable' - CNA

PHILADELPHIA: US President Joe Biden called Friday's (Oct 28) attack on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband "despicable."

An intruder attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer, fracturing his skull in the early hours after breaking into the couple's California house in search of the speaker, according to officials.

Addressing a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Biden said political violence had "no place" in the United States, adding "Enough is enough is enough."

Biden also referenced media reports that the assailant was chanting "Where is Nancy," the same chant used during the deadly Jan 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

"I am not making this up," Biden said. "This is reported."

Paul Pelosi was "attacked at home by an assailant who acted with force, and threatened his life while demanding to see the speaker," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said earlier on Friday.

Paul Pelosi, 82 - who underwent surgery and is recovering in hospital - was at home alone, as his wife was working in Washington.

With less than two weeks to go before the crucial US midterm elections, members of both parties have sounded the alarm about the potential for political violence.

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2022-10-29 01:03:00Z
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Taiwan invites Chinese veterinary experts as beloved panda nears death - CNA

Tuan Tuan and his breeding mate Yuan Yuan were given to Taiwan by Beijing at a time when relations between the two neighbours were more cordial.

In a nod to the Chinese Communist Party's goal of one day taking Taiwan, their names combined mean "reunion" or "unity".

The couple became huge stars in Taiwan and Yuan Yuan has since given birth to two female cubs.

"He (Tuan Tuan) was small and so cute when he first got here," said Heng Ling-lin, who brought her children to Taipei Zoo to sign get-well notes.

"He was like everybody's baby," she told AFP.

"It breaks my heart now to see him like this."

"PANDA DIPLOMACY"

China only loans pandas to foreign zoos which must usually return any offspring within a few years of their birth to join the country's breeding programme.

But Taiwan was granted an exception as part of a brief charm offensive China launched in the late 2000s and was fully gifted both Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan and any offspring they had.

Vets first noticed Tuan Tuan, 18, was ill in August when he began suffering seizures and appeared increasingly unsteady and lethargic.

Subsequent scans showed he had a brain-lesion and he was placed on anti-seizure medication.

Earlier this week Taipei Zoo said they suspected Tuan Tuan had a brain tumour and he was moved into palliative care.

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2022-10-28 08:53:47Z
CBMidmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS90YWl3YW4taW52aXRlcy1jaGluZXNlLXZldGVyaW5hcnktZXhwZXJ0cy1tYWxlLXBhbmRhLXR1YW4tdHVhbi1uZWFyLWRlYXRoLTMwMzA2MzHSAQA

Forgotten Uyghurs locked up in Thailand face 'hell on earth' - CNA

DIPLOMATIC BALANCE

"What's a life, in this kind of prison cell for almost 10 years?" asked Thai senator Zakee Phithakkumpol, one of the leaders of the Islamic Central Council, which represents the kingdom's eight million Muslims.

Support for the detainees has stepped up in recent months, with eight Thai human rights organisations urging authorities in July not to send them to China.

The renewed attention comes as Thailand prepares to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next month, with China and the US both increasingly vying for influence in Southeast Asia.

Thailand's junta cosied up to Beijing after seizing power in 2014, but in recent years it has sought to tread a path between China and the US, the kingdom's oldest ally.

"Lately, Bangkok has been rebalancing its relations between Washington and Beijing, rather moving closer to the US," political professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak at Chulalongkorn University told AFP.

The massive diplomatic and security fallout from the 2015 deportation may also contribute to the government's hesitancy, but it is keeping mum about its next moves.

Contacted by AFP, a ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson said the position of the kingdom "remained the same", without giving further details.

Sami, who was in communication with a number of the men held, says their fears will not have changed.

Every time they spoke, he said, "I tell them with sorrow that there is no news, there is nothing about them."

Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director at Human Rights Watch, said the Uyghurs' treatment was "absolutely shocking" and Thailand should release them immediately.

"Thai Immigration is acting like it will hold these men indefinitely, for the rest of their lives if need be, to avoid offending China," Robertson told AFP.

"If there is a hell on earth, Thailand has created it for these Uyghur detainees."

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2022-10-28 06:40:19Z
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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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