Pakistan ex-PM Khan granted bail after unlawful arrest - CNA

General elections are due no later than October, and the former cricket star has accused the shaky incumbent coalition government of supplanting him in cahoots with top generals.

The 70-year-old has also made explosive claims that they puppeteered a November assassination attempt which saw him shot in the leg as he campaigned for snap polls.

LABYRINTHINE LEGAL CASES

Khan was arrested under the orders of Pakistan's top graft agency as he arrived for a routine court appearance in the capital.

Two days of chaos followed, with several thousand of his supporters rampaging through cities across the country in protest, setting fire to buildings and blocking roads.

At least nine people died in the unrest, police and hospitals said.

Hundreds of police officers were injured and more than 3,500 people arrested, mostly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, according to authorities.

On Thursday, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said the arrest was unlawful because it took place on court premises, where Khan had intended to file a bail application.

"Your arrest was invalid, so the whole process needs to be backtracked," he told Khan.

Khan remained in the bench's custody overnight under police protection for his own safety until he arrived at the Islamabad High Court, where hundreds of security forces were deployed and nearby roads shut.

"COUNTRY NEEDS PEACE"

Islamabad police had issued an emergency order banning all gatherings in the capital city after Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party called for supporters to come together.

Faisal Hussain Chaudhry, a lawyer for Khan, told reporters that further arrests of senior PTI leaders overnight brought the total number to 10.

"The country needs peace but such steps by the government are not helpful," he said.

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2023-05-12 11:58:31Z
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Pakistan authorities gear up for Imran Khan's supporters at his court hearing - CNA

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan police imposed an emergency order banning gatherings as supporters of Imran Khan were expected to march to the capital on Friday (May 12) where the former prime minister will appear for a court hearing.

His arrest earlier this week, which sparked deadly unrest in the nuclear-armed nation, was ruled "invalid and unlawful" by the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party said thousands of "peaceful Pakistanis" from across the country will gather in Islamabad in solidarity with their leader.

Khan, 70, an international cricket hero-turned-politician, will appear before the Islamabad High Court at 11am (2pm, Singapore time) for a hearing on his petition challenging the anti-corruption action against him, on orders of the top court.

His arrest aggravated instability in the country of 220 million people at a time of severe economic crisis - with record high inflation, anaemic growth and a delayed IMF funding - and escalated Khan's tussle with the powerful military.

Nearly 2,000 people have been arrested so far and at least eight killed after Khan's supporters clashed with police, attacked military establishments and set other state buildings and assets ablaze, prompting the government to call in the army to help restore order.

The army has warned Khan's supporters that it will respond firmly if there are further attacks on its assets, saying in a statement on Wednesday that the violence on its installations was "pre-planned" and ordered by his party leadership.

Khan, who opponents say was brought to power through a rigged election in 2018 by the generals, has blamed the military for his ouster from office in April 2022 in a parliamentary no-confidence vote.

The army, which remains Pakistan's most powerful institution, having ruled it directly for close to half its 75-year history through three coups, has denied Khan's allegations.

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2023-05-12 04:46:00Z
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ASEAN cannot go back to 'business as usual' with Myanmar: PM Lee - CNA

SINGAPORE TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING TIMOR-LESTE 

Speaking about how Singapore would help Timor-Leste in gaining ASEAN membership, Mr Lee highlighted the special technical assistance Singapore-Timor-Leste ASEAN Readiness Support (STARS) package that Singapore launched to train Timor-Leste officials in ASEAN knowledge and skills training, as well as education capacity building. 

About 800 Timor-Leste officials have come to Singapore, while officials from Singapore have also conducted courses in Timor-Leste for its officials. 

“I think that is not easy because it’s a small country. They only have, I think, about a million (in) population. To generate this bureaucracy (and) the officials who can master all of this and participate, I think it will take them awhile. But we will help them to do it as soon as possible,” he said. 

Mr Lee acknowledged that many issues in the region concern Timor-Leste, but to join ASEAN is “actually a very heavy responsibility”. 

With ASEAN having grown in so many directions and cooperation frameworks spanning various fields, Timor-Leste officials must be armed with the know-how and expertise to participate in ASEAN meetings and “make a sensible contribution”, or even to uphold their own interest and negotiate in “an informed way” to reach a “proper outcome”, he said. 

During the plenary on Wednesday, Mr Lee assured Timor-Leste Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak that Singapore will continue to support the country in fulfilling the commitments and obligations in the roadmap necessary for it to become a member state. 

Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak was present at the session – where the roadmap was adopted – as an observer for the first time. He had also met with Mr Lee on the sidelines at the summit. 

After ASEAN had agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste as its 11th member at the previous summit in Cambodia, this gave the country observer status at future ASEAN meetings, including plenary sessions. 

ASEAN CENTRALITY IMPORTANT AMID TROUBLED WORLD 

Mr Lee on Thursday also stressed the need for ASEAN to be unified, cohesive, effective and central amid a troubled world.

“The more troubled the world is, the more you need a safety life raft. And ASEAN is our life raft; it is the life raft for all ASEAN members. Because each one of us, in a global context, we are not that big,” he told reporters. 

“But if we are together (as) 10 countries, it’s a significant economic weight, and is a voice which counts for something in regional affairs.” 

But upholding ASEAN centrality requires “a substance of the cooperation”, not “just words”, he added, pointing to ongoing discussions related to green and digital economies, upgrading economic cooperation, as well as upgrading free trade agreements with New Zealand, Australia and other countries. 

Highlighting the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific as an “inclusive omnidirectional idea”, which is not directed at any particular power but rather to enable ASEAN to cooperate with all of them, Mr Lee acknowledged that these countries “will have contradictions”.

“But hopefully by having ASEAN work with all of them, that generates some common ground amongst them, and that will put ASEAN in a position to be at the centre of regional affairs.”

That, he added, will enable ASEAN to help contribute to a balance of power in the region, therefore enabling ASEAN centrality.

“It’s hard work when you have 10 countries working together, and one more waiting to join … It is never easy to reach a consensus, but it is work which needs to be done,” he said. 

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2023-05-11 10:04:00Z
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32 employers failed to pay migrant workers' medical bills between 2020 and 2022 - CNA

PROVIDING A WIDER SAFETY NET 

Bangladesh construction worker Jo (not his real name), who was diagnosed with a ruptured appendix in April, was sent back home shortly after and had to pay for his own treatment. 

The 43-year-old, who had been working in Singapore since 2001, paid for his appendicitis surgery out of his own pocket as he did not have support from his employer. He is currently recovering back home and is unsure if he will be able to return to Singapore for work. 

“This operation, this money, this one all I need to pay,” said Jo, who had been with the employer for more than a year. “My boss said it like that, your insurance cannot cover this (amount of) money.”

If a worker has a medical condition unrelated to their work, employers can send them home to continue treatment at their own expense. That is only if the worker has been declared fit to travel by a doctor. 

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2023-05-10 01:50:36Z
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Donald Trump sexually abused writer, must pay her US$5 million in damages, says jury - CNA

"CORE PRO-TRUMP VOTERS ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE"

President from 2017 to 2021, Trump is the front-runner in opinion polls for the Republican presidential nomination and has shown an uncanny ability to weather controversies that might sink other politicians.

It seems unlikely in America's polarised political climate that the civil verdict will have an impact on Trump's core supporters, who view his legal woes as part of a concerted effort by opponents to undermine him.

"The folks that are anti-Trump are going to remain that way, the core pro-Trump voters are not going to change, and the ambivalent ones I just don’t think are going to be moved by this type of thing," said Charlie Gerow, a Republican strategist in Pennsylvania.

Any negative impact is likely to be small and limited to suburban women and moderate Republicans, Gerow said.

Trump has cited the Carroll trial in campaign fundraising emails as evidence of what he portrays as a Democratic plot. He has said Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist and a registered Democrat, made up the allegations to try to increase sales of her 2019 memoir and to hurt him politically.

His poll numbers improved after he was charged last month with falsifying business records over a hush money payment to a porn star before his victory in the 2016 presidential election.

The first US president past or present to be criminally charged, Trump has pleaded not guilty and said the charges are politically motivated.

Lis Smith, a Democratic strategist, said it remained to be seen whether the verdict in Carroll's case would make Trump "unpalatable" to Republican voters beyond his base, prompting them to coalesce around another candidate.

The trial featured testimony from former People magazine reporter Natasha Stoynoff, who told jurors that Trump cornered her at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida in 2005 and forcibly kissed her for a "few minutes". Another woman, Jessica Leeds, testified that Trump kissed her, groped her and put his hand up her skirt on a flight in 1979.

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2023-05-09 20:06:00Z
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Putin says Russians are united in 'sacred' battle with West over Ukraine - CNA

As many as 354,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured in the Ukraine war, which is now in its 15th month and could well grind on well beyond 2023, according to a trove of purported US intelligence documents posted online.

VICTORY DAY

No Western leaders attended Tuesday's parade, which was much reduced in scale and came less than a week after Russia said Ukraine had attacked the Kremlin with two drones in an attempt to kill Putin. Kyiv denied any involvement.

Putin said "Western globalist elites" were sowing Russophobia and aggressive nationalism, while the Ukrainian people had become "hostages to a state coup" and to the ambitions of the West.

Putin said the memory of World War II was sacred and paid tribute to those who fought against Nazis, including the armies of the US and Britain, and also to China's fight against the Japanese.

Along with the 1812 defeat of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the crushing of Nazi Germany is Russia's most revered military triumph, though both catastrophic invasions from the West left Russia deeply sensitive about its Western borders.

"We want to see a peaceful, free and stable future," Putin said, adding that memorials to Soviet soldiers were being destroyed in a number of countries.

"We have repulsed international terrorism, we will protect the inhabitants of Donbas (in eastern Ukraine), we will ensure our security," said Putin, who was joined in Red Square by leaders of several ex-Soviet republics.

He did not address the challenges facing Russia as its forces prepare for an expected major counter-offensive by Ukraine, or outline any path to victory. 

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2023-05-09 10:10:07Z
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Commentary: With Trump topping presidential polls, deja vu hangs over US-led trade talks in Singapore - CNA

Business community support, even for an agreement that contains more understandings than binding agreements, will result in IPEF partners becoming more inclined to implement an agreement. While the business community can invest regardless of IPEF surviving the next election, a sustainable IPEF brings needed scale and intensity of investment.

SINGAPORE WEEK CRITICAL FOR IPEF

The IPEF negotiators have a tougher task than usual. They must reach an agreement that provides not just a win-win, but a win 14 times. And they must do it such that a change in US administration after the framework has been agreed upon will not cause the “new” government to abandon any outcomes.  

As an agreement like IPEF has little chance of getting concluded during next year’s US presidential campaign, the four pillars need to be closed this year. This will be a heavy lift under the best of circumstances.

No one wants a TPP repeat. While a formal mechanism may not be easily available, the IPEF negotiators need to think about implementation, enforceability and follow-through.

For the agreement to straddle a change in governments, it must be clear on what the implementation obligations are, for instance, what should be incorporated into domestic law such that it’s difficult for new governments to make changes.

The negotiators have a critical question to grapple with this week: What sort of vehicle should IPEF be such that it has a higher chance of survival?

Not only will the negotiators be dealing with each other in answering this question, they need to do so with the proverbial 800-pound orange gorilla in the room as well.

Steven R Okun is CEO of Singapore-headquartered APAC Advisors, Senior Adviser for global strategic consultancy McLarty Associates and Chair of the AmChams of Asia Pacific. He served in the Clinton administration as Deputy General Counsel at the US Department of Transportation.

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2023-05-08 22:02:14Z
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