Mahathir gives PM Anwar 7 days to retract 'slanderous' claims or face legal action - The Straits Times

Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad has demanded that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim retract “slanderous” claims that he had enriched himself and his family while in power.

If Datuk Seri Anwar fails to respond within seven days to the letter of demand dated March 27, Tun Dr Mahathir said he will proceed with legal action.

“These are terrible accusations and give a very bad impression of me. It is slander, unless he can show proof that I have billions of ringgit, I channelled money overseas and I don’t pay taxes,” he told the Malaysian media on Tuesday.

In a speech at his Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s congress on March 18, Mr Anwar had alluded to someone “who had been in power for 22 years and (later) an additional 22 months” using his position to enrich his family and himself.

While Mr Anwar did not mention Dr Mahathir by name, he also said the person was complaining about Malays losing their dominance only after he was no longer in power.

Dr Mahathir demanded on Monday that the Prime Minister back his claim.

On Tuesday, he said it was clear that Mr Anwar was referring to no other former premier but him because “I was in power for 22 years and 22 months”.

Dr Mahathir, 97, served as premier twice – from 1981 to 2003, and from 2018 to 2020 – and resigned both times. He lost his parliamentary seat of Langkawi in the 2022 General Election.

“Although I have heard similar remarks which he made in the past, but at that time he was not prime minister. Now he is prime minister, and prime ministers have the responsibility to not simply make such accusations without any clear proof,” Dr Mahathir added.

He also said he will continue to be politically active as he believes the people still need his experience, adding that he could not say no if people sought him out for advice.

“For the love of the country... if someone comes and asks me for help, I could not say ‘I am sorry I cannot help because I want to rest’. I still have ideas and (if asked) I’m ready to share,” he said.

Dr Mahathir and Mr Anwar used to have a close relationship, with the former calling Mr Anwar his friend and protege.

He anointed Mr Anwar his successor, but later, amid disagreements over how to handle the Asian financial crisis in 1998, he said Mr Anwar was unfit to lead “because of his character”.

Between his stints as deputy prime minister in the 1990s and as official prime minister-in-waiting in 2018, Mr Anwar spent nearly a decade in jail for sodomy and corruption – charges that he said were politically motivated.

After decades of enmity, the two buried the hatchet briefly in 2018 to oust the then ruling Barisan Nasional coalition – only to fall out again within two years, ending their 22-month-old Pakatan Harapan government and plunging Malaysia into a period of instability.

The last election, on Nov 19, left the country in political limbo after no coalition gained enough seats to form a government.

Mr Anwar and rival Muhyiddin Yassin, whose coalitions had the two largest blocs in Parliament but no simple majority needed to form the government, raced against each other to become premier.

The situation was resolved only when Mr Anwar gained the backing of the Umno-led Barisan Nasional to form a unity government.

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2023-03-28 12:30:53Z
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Senior citizen in Johor dies after eating pufferfish - The Straits Times

KLUANG, Johor - A senior citizen from Johor has died after eating pufferfish, while her husband is now hospitalised in the intensive care unit (ICU).

According to Johor health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon, the 83-year-old woman and her husband, 84, from the village of Chamek, ordered the fish, known in Malay as ikan buntal, through social media.

The couple received the fish on Saturday morning, Mr Ling said.

Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily reported that the couple ordered the fish from a fishmonger through Facebook.

“They cleaned and cooked the fish for lunch and around 3pm, the woman started shivering and having breathing difficulties,” Mr Ling told The Star on Tuesday. “About an hour later, her husband began displaying similar symptoms.”

Mr Ling said the couple’s son rushed his parents to Hospital Enche’ Hajjah Kalsom’s emergency unit for treatment.

“The woman was pronounced dead at around 7pm while her husband is still in the ICU,” he added.

It is understood that this was the couple’s first time eating pufferfish.

Mr Ling added that the fish they ordered came from a fisherman from the coastal Johor town of Mersing and was processed by a distributor in Batu Pahat.

He said that the seller is also from Batu Pahat and had sold the fish online, adding that 15kg of the fish was sold to four customers in Chamek and the nearby district of Paloh. Another fish was sold to a customer in the town of Yong Peng on the same day.

“Besides the couple, the other customers have yet to consume the fish but the Health Department has obtained samples of the fish from the seller for analysis.

“The public are advised to be careful about what they consume, especially when it comes to food with known risks,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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2023-03-28 09:44:17Z
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Russian plan for nukes in Belarus raises questions - CNA

HOW AND WHERE

As often with nuclear policy, few details of the Russian plans have been made public, leaving many unanswered questions.

For instance, it is unclear how the weapons would be delivered if the order to use them in anger ever came.

Putin said that "10 (Belarusian) planes are ready for this type of weapon to be used" and that Russia has also sent a nuclear-capable Iskander missile system.

Moscow will start training crews on Apr 3 and plans to finish the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons by Jul 1.

"So far there is no sign of this construction work. It seems relatively unlikely that it can be completed in three months," said Marc Finaud, deputy president of the France-based Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN).

"We can be confident that all the world's spy satellites are scanning Belarus" to see how far Putin's announcements are reflected in reality, he added.

Independent Russian expert Pavel Podvig said: "It is very unlikely - in my view impossible - that actual nuclear weapons will be moved to Belarus."

WHICH PUTIN TO BELIEVE?

While Putin has been dangling the threat of nuclear war, Russia's doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons has not changed.

And the post-invasion rhetoric goes against previous promises by Moscow.

In January 2022 Russia signed a declaration alongside the other permanent members of the UN Security Council that "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought".

Although global politics has since undergone an epochal shift, Putin struck a similar note last week during the visit to Moscow by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who has refrained from publically supporting the invasion.

"There can be no winners in a nuclear war, and it must never be unleashed," the two said in the joint declaration.

Former diplomat Finaud noted that the Chinese and Russian leaders also pledged that "no nuclear weapon should be stationed on foreign soil".

Putin is "violating Russia's own constantly stated position", he added.

PROLIFERATION

As often when Putin raises the rhetorical temperature, Western governments sought to project calm.

"We have not seen any indication that he (Putin) has made good on this pledge or moved any nuclear weapons around," US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday.

"For now it's just an announcement. There's no immediate danger of nuclear use," Finaud agreed - while warning that any movement of warheads risks falling foul of human error, hijacking or accidents.

There is also a clear downside for Putin in making nuclear threats too often.

"All of the huffing and puffing about nuclear weapons drives up demand for deterrence in NATO countries, too," Lewis said.

"That's largely why you see Sweden and Finland seeking security through NATO membership".

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) on Monday recalled that so-called "tactical" weapons can reach an explosive force of up to 100 kilotonnes - compared with just 16 for the bomb that "destroyed Hiroshima and killed 140,000 people" in August 1945.

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2023-03-27 14:12:00Z
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Mahathir says Malays 'lost everything' after he resigned as PM - CNA

Dr Mahathir on Monday demanded that Mr Anwar furnish the proof of his allegations.

“Making accusations is easy. But accusations that are not clearly proven, cannot be accepted as true. It is slander,” he said.

Dr Mahathir also accused the current government under Mr Anwar of rejecting the country’s Constitution after a pro-Malay gathering was called off. 

A Malay rights event had been set to take place on Mar 19 in Kuala Lumpur, with Dr Mahathir in attendance as the guest of honour. It was cancelled after two venues withdrew their permission for the event.  

Dr Mahathir on Monday said that he had participated in the event - organised by a group called Sekretariat Tanah Air - to make the Malays in the country aware of their problems by launching the “Malay Proclamation”. 

He also claimed that the content of the planned event complied with the provisions of the constitutions of the country and that of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). 

He added that obstruction of the launch meant that the government rejected both the country and UMNO’s constitutions.

“UMNO did not object. UMNO no longer adheres to the goals of its establishment. That is why other factions need to be held to protect the rights of Malays and other Bumiputeras.

“When the Government prevents other parties from launching this proclamation, it betrays the promise in the National Constitution. That is why the Malays should be concerned about the government led by Anwar Ibrahim,” said Dr Mahathir.

He had previously criticised the government when the event was first called off, claiming that the current administration was a “dictatorship” that does not “allow the people to voice their opinions or criticise it”. 

Free Malaysia Today reported then that Dr Mahathir said that he had no proof but was convinced that Mr Anwar was behind the cancellation as “nothing like this can be done without his consent or directive”. 

Before the cancellation of the event, Mr Anwar had ordered security forces to be on alert against those fanning racial and religious flames in the country. 

“Any effort by anyone who tries to … heat up the racial or religious temperature in this country will not be allowed,” Mr Anwar told a press conference after a Cabinet meeting on Mar 17. 

In the 15th General Elections last year, Dr Mahathir failed to defend his Langkawi seat, losing his deposit after finishing fourth in a five-cornered fight. 

It was his first electoral defeat in 53 years.

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2023-03-27 07:55:00Z
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Gap grows between TikTok users, lawmakers on potential ban - CNA

NEW YORK: On the one side are dozens of lawmakers on Capitol Hill issuing dire warnings about security breaches and possible Chinese surveillance.

On the other are about 150 million TikTok users in the US who just want to be able to keep making and watching short, fun videos offering makeup tutorials and cooking lessons, among other things.

The disconnect illustrates the uphill battle that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle face in trying to convince the public that China could use TikTok as a weapon against the American people. But many users on the platform are more concerned about the possibility of the government taking away their favourite app.

TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi said during a nearly six-hour congressional hearing Thursday (Mar 23) that the platform has never turned over user data to the Chinese government, and wouldn’t do so if asked.

Nevertheless, lawmakers, the FBI and officials at other agencies continue to raise alarms that Chinese law compels Chinese companies like TikTok's parent company ByteDance to fork over data to the government for whatever purposes it deems to involve national security. There is also concern Beijing might try to push pro-China narratives or misinformation through the platform.

“I want to say this to all the teenagers out there, and TikTok influencers who think we’re just old and out of touch and don’t know what we’re talking about, trying to take your favourite app,” said Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw during the hearing. “You may not care that your data is being accessed now, but you will be one day.”

Many TikTok users reacted to the hearing by posting videos critical of lawmakers who grilled Chew and frequently cut him off from speaking. Some called a potential TikTok ban, as some lawmakers and the Biden administration have reportedly threatened, the “biggest scam” of the year. And others blamed the surge of scrutiny on the platform on another tech rival, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

But few expressed fear of possible Chinese surveillance or security breaches that lawmakers continue to amplify as they look to rein in TikTok.

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2023-03-26 15:28:00Z
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Kyiv calls for UN Security Council session over Putin's nuclear plans - CNA

It demanded a Security Council session and also called on the Group of Seven countries and the European Union to warn Belarus of "far-reaching consequences" if it decides to accept the Russian weapons.

Putin said in his remarks on Saturday that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko had requested the stationing of the weapons. Minsk has not yet commented publicly on Putin's announcement.

The Belarusian army has not formally fought in Ukraine but Minsk allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to send troops into Ukraine last year. The two countries share a close military relationship.

"Ukraine calls on all members of the international community to convey to the criminal (P)utin regime the categorical unacceptability of its next nuclear provocations and to take decisive measures to effectively deter and prevent any possibility of the aggressor state's use of nuclear weapons," the Ukrainian statement said.

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2023-03-26 14:20:13Z
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US House speaker says lawmakers to move forward with TikTok Bill - CNA

WASHINGTON: US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Sunday (Mar 26) lawmakers will move forward with legislation to address national security worries about TikTok, alleging China's government had access to the short video app's user data.

In the United States, there are growing calls to ban TikTok, owned by China-based company ByteDance, or to pass bipartisan legislation to give President Joe Biden's administration legal authority to seek a ban. Devices owned by the US government were recently banned from having the app installed.

"The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party," McCarthy said on Twitter.

TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi appeared before a US House Committee for about five hours on Thursday, and lawmakers from both parties grilled him about national security and other concerns involving the app, which has 150 million American users.

In Thursday's hearing, the TikTok CEO was asked if of the app, has spied on Americans at Beijing's request. Chew answered, "No".

Republican Representative Neal Dunn then referenced the company's disclosure in December that some China-based employees at ByteDance improperly accessed TikTok user data of two journalists and were no longer employed by the company. He repeated his question about whether ByteDance was spying.

"I don't think that spying is the right way to describe it," Chew said. He went on to describe the reports as involving an "internal investigation" before being cut off.

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2023-03-26 14:46:00Z
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