Malaysia's ex-PM Muhyiddin summoned to anti-graft agency again - CNA

Anwar's office and the MACC did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Anwar and Mr Muhyiddin went head-to-head in a tightly contested election in November that resulted in a hung parliament as neither candidate won a parliamentary majority.

Malaysia's constitutional monarch, King Al-Sultan Abdullah, then appointed Anwar as prime minister after he formed a coalition with other political parties.

Since the election, Mr Muhyiddin and his party have been subject to graft investigations.

Two leaders belonging to Mr Muhyiddin's party have been charged by the MACC with bribery over an economic recovery project launched by his government.

He was reportedly questioned by the MACC last month over a contract awarded to a relative when he was prime minister, which was said to be worth over a billion ringgit (US$221 million).

Then, he "vehemently" denied the accusation in a Facebook post, calling it an "evil slander".

The MACC has also frozen bank accounts belonging to Mr Muhyiddin's party. 

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2023-03-08 12:56:00Z
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China 'seriously concerned' by Taiwan president 'transit' plans amid reported US trip - CNA

"At present, various departments are communicating and preparing for relevant plans, and the planning of the related itinerary will be explained in a timely manner after the plan is finalised," it added, without elaborating.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said they were "seriously concerned about the news".

"We have lodged solemn representations with the US side and asked them to clarify," she added.

China is firmly opposed to any form of official exchanges between the US and Taiwan, she said, adding: "No one should underestimate the strong determination of the Chinese government and people to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"The real threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is the separatist forces of Taiwan independence," Mao said.

China has rebuffed calls for talks from Tsai since she took office in 2016, believing her to be a separatist.

China has never ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control. Taiwan's government says the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island and so has no right to claim it, and that only its 23 million people can decide their future.

Taiwan is a constant source of friction between Beijing and Washington. China's foreign minister said on Tuesday Taiwan was the "first red line" that must not be crossed in Sino-US relations.

China staged military exercises around Taiwan in August following a visit to Taipei by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The US has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself. 

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2023-03-08 08:16:21Z
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World War II forced labour victims lash out at South Korea's 'dirty money' plan - CNA

"I am 95 years old and I don't know if I die today or tomorrow. But never in my life have I felt so distressed," Yang Geum-deok, who worked at a Mitsubishi factory during the war, said at a rally in Seoul.

"Even if I die of hunger, I would not accept that dirty money," she yelled, waving a placard that said: "Mitsubishi must apologise and compensate!"

Seoul aims to resolve lingering issues stemming from Japan's brutal 1910-45 occupation of the Korean peninsula as it seeks closer ties with Tokyo in the face of growing threats from North Korea.

Around 780,000 Koreans were conscripted into forced labour by Japan during the colonial period, according to data from Seoul.

That number does not include Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japanese troops.

"It was the Japanese who dragged us to Japan. Who do we turn to to demand an apology?" said victim Kim Sung-joo at the rally, which was also attended by opposition politicians.

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol defended the plan on Tuesday, saying it was essential "for freedom, peace and prosperity, not only bilaterally but globally".

The two countries restored diplomatic ties with the signing of the 1965 treaty, which included a reparations package of about US$800 million in grants and cheap loans.

Japan has long insisted that the agreement settled all claims relating to the colonial period.

It is unclear whether Japanese companies will make any contributions, with Nippon Steel saying Monday: "Our company's understanding is that this issue has been resolved by the 1965 agreement".

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2023-03-07 08:09:00Z
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Ukraine moves to fortify embattled Bakhmut as Russia closes in - CNA

KYIV: Ukraine pledged on Monday (Mar 6) to bolster its defences in frontline Bakhmut, after reports that Kyiv was withdrawing from the city that has become a symbolic prize in the war.

But Ukrainian forces fighting to retain control of the salt-mining town told AFP that its capture by Russia was inevitable and that some units had already begun to pull back.

The eastern Ukrainian city has been badly damaged during the longest and bloodiest battle since Russia's more than year-long invasion.

Kyiv says the fighting is becoming increasingly difficult and analysts say its forces may have initiated a strategic retreat.

But President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with top commanders Monday and his office said they favoured "continuing the defensive operation and further strengthening our positions in Bakhmut".

Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak also told AFP there was a "consensus" within the military on the need to "continue defending" the city.

Neither side has said how many troops they have lost in the battle, with observers saying both Moscow and Kyiv are trying to exhaust each other.

Outside Bakhmut, some Ukrainian soldiers had lost hope that Kyiv would hold the city and looked set to retreat.

Near the town of Chasiv Yar, 10km west of Bakhmut, one soldier said he came to repair his tank after a month of fighting.

"Bakhmut will fall," he told AFP from the vehicle, fatigue showing on his face.

"RETREATING IN GROUPS"

"We are almost encircled. The units are progressively retreating in small groups."

He said the only path out of Bakhmut was over dirt roads that lead to Chasiv Yar. If tanks get bogged down there, he said, they could become a target for artillery fire.

But a senior Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that "considering the current positions" of Kyiv's forces near Bakhmut, it is "impossible to besiege" the city.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War has said Ukrainian forces may have initiated a strategic retreat from the town.

"Ukrainian forces are likely conducting a limited tactical withdrawal in Bakhmut, although it is still too early to assess Ukrainian intentions concerning a complete withdrawal from the city," it said in a recent analytical note.

The Ukrainian army said on Sunday that its troops had fought off "more than 130" Russian attacks in a single day around Bakhmut and said Moscow's forces were trying to encircle the city.

About 4,500 civilians remain in Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials have said.

In Chasiv Yar, an elderly woman named Antonina said she was scared but determined to stay in the village where she was born.

The 82-year-old said she survives on humanitarian aid and vegetables from her garden.

She said strikes were more intense at the end of last week.

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2023-03-06 16:24:00Z
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Wagner chief says Russian position at Bakhmut at risk without promised ammunition - CNA

"DEFENCE IS HOLDING"

A Russian victory in Bakhmut, with a pre-war population of about 70,000, would give it the first major prize in a costly winter offensive, after it called up hundreds of thousands of reservists last year. Russia says it would be a stepping stone to completing the capture of the Donbas industrial region, one of its most important objectives.

Volodymyr Nazarenko, a commander of Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut, said that there had been no order to retreat and "the defence is holding" in grim conditions.

"The situation in Bakhmut and around it is very much hell-like, as it is on the entire eastern front," Nazarenko said in a video posted on Telegram.

Ukraine's military said late on Sunday that Russian forces were attempting to advance on Bakhmut, shelling the city and nearby settlements of Ivanivske, Chasiv Yar, Kurdyumivka and Orikhovo-Vasylivka.

"The situation in Bakhmut can be described as critical," Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said in a video commentary.

To the north, Russian troops advanced towards the town of Bilohorivka, just inside the Luhansk region, and shelled several settlements in the direction of Kupiansk and Lyman, the Ukrainian military said.

Further south, it said that Russian forces made preparations for an offensive in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, shelling dozens of towns and villages including the city of Kherson, causing civilian casualties.

A woman and two children were killed by Russian mortar bombs in a village in Kherson region, the head of Ukraine's presidential office said.

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2023-03-06 06:58:41Z
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Long-sought high seas treaty a landmark win for oceans, biodiversity - The Straits Times

WASHINGTON - United Nations member states have agreed to the text of a landmark international treaty to protect the high seas beyond individual countries’ jurisdictions – the planet’s largest reservoir of biodiversity, of which only 1 per cent is currently protected.

“The ship has reached the shore,” conference president Rena Lee announced on Saturday night, to wide relief and applause from delegates after a gruelling, almost 40-hour session capping two weeks of negotiations at the UN headquarters in New York.

The agreement will be formally adopted after vetting by lawyers and translation into the UN’s six official languages. 

“There will be no reopening or discussions of substance,” Mrs Lee told negotiators.

The treaty on the “Conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction”, among other things, obliges countries to conduct environmental impact assessments of proposed activities on the high seas. No longer will the waters beyond countries’ jurisdictions be a free-for-all.

A sensitive chapter on the sharing of potential benefits of newly discovered marine resources was one of the points of contention, with developing countries fighting against exclusion from potential commercialisation of discoveries.

“This new agreement on biodiversity of the high seas and deep seabed is the culmination of the dedicated efforts of countless persons committed to strengthening the protections of the biodiversity of our high seas and deep seabed. It represents a hopeful pathway for us to better govern our use of such precious resources,” said Mrs Lee, who is Singapore’s Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues and Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

“Much more hard work lies ahead to achieve our objective, and I hope that the agreement gives a boost to such efforts. But more than this, the conclusion of this agreement represents a strong affirmation that when nations come together, there is so much more that we can achieve collectively for the betterment of our world.”

Mrs Lee, who has been chairing the talks since 2018, is the second Singaporean to chair a UN conference on the law of the sea.

The first was Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh, who chaired the conference that came up with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) in 1982.

“This is very good news,” Professor Koh told The Straits Times. “Given how fragmented the world has become, we were not sure whether Rena would be able to find consensus.”

He added: “What this shows is that multilateralism and international cooperation are still alive.

“The question is whether biodiversity is the common heritage of mankind. If so, how should the benefits be shared with all mankind, especially developing countries? The conference has managed to find consensus on all these important issues.”

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post on Sunday: “Oceans are critical to island states like us. Happy to see Singaporeans contribute and lead in this arena. It is a step forward for our planet and for all who share the habitat together.”

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2023-03-05 15:43:18Z
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China earmarks 2 per cent budget boost for science and technology - South China Morning Post

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1. China earmarks 2 per cent budget boost for science and technology  South China Morning Post
2. China sets lowest growth target in years as parliament kicks off; defence spending to rise  CNA
3. China Markets Set for Weak Showing as Growth Target Disappoints  Bloomberg
4. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang bows out with appeal for economic recovery  South China Morning Post
5. Of omissions, accidental or otherwise: Parsing the Premier's references to China's Taiwan policy  The Straits Times
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-03-05 15:13:08Z
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