US$8.4 million, 200kg of gold and 17 luxury cars seized in Malaysia raids - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of RM38 million (US$8.4 million) in cash, 200kg of gold worth RM60 million and 17 luxury cars have been seized by Malaysian enforcement agencies. 

A businessman and his two partners, all in their 40s, were also arrested, reported Bernama on Wednesday (Jul 26).

The simultaneous raids, involving 315 officers, took place on Monday at 34 locations in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

The multi-agency task force was led by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in collaboration with the police, Immigration Department, Customs Department, Bank Negara Malaysia, Inland Revenue Board and CyberSecurity Malaysia.

Photos of the confiscated items taken by MACC showed a variety of luxury cars of various brands such as Maserati, Ferrari and Mercedes Benz.

Bundles of cash in several currencies as well as a collection of gold jewellery were also seen. 

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2023-07-27 03:27:00Z
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Typhoon Doksuri shuts businesses, grounds flights in Taiwan - CNA

TAIPEI: Southern Taiwan on Thursday (Jul 27) shut businesses and schools while airlines cancelled hundreds of domestic flights amid warnings of landslides and floods as Typhoon Doksuri churned past the island en route to China where it will make landfall later this week.

As of 10.15am (0215 GMT) Typhoon Doksuri, categorised as the second-strongest typhoon level by Taiwan's weather bureau, headed towards the southern Taiwan Strait with maximum winds of 191 kmh.

At one point Doksuri was a super typhoon, but lost some of its strength after it lashed the coastline of the northern Philippines on Wednesday, bursting banks of rivers and leaving thousands without electricity.

Doksuri killed five people in the Philippines, according to the country's disaster agency.

Taiwan's weather bureau issued wind and rain warnings on Thursday for the southern part of the island, including the major port city of Kaohsiung where businesses and schools were closed and landslide warnings were issued.

All domestic flights and ferry lines were suspended in Taiwan while more than 100 international flights were cancelled or delayed. Railway services between southern and eastern Taiwan were shut.

More than 5,700 people were evacuated as a precaution, mostly in the mountainous southern and eastern Taiwan, where more than 0.7m of rainfall was recorded in some areas and up to 1m was forecast.

The storm had cut power from more than 49,000 households across Taiwan but the majority of them had since been restored.

"Typhoon Doksuri should not be underestimated," Kaohsiung city mayor Chen Chi-mai said in a Facebook post late on Wednesday.

"The police and military force will assist in the effort of forced evacuation if needed," he said, pointing to threats by torrential rain in mountainous areas.

Braving occasional showers and winds, Taiwan's armed forces pressed ahead with a large-scale anti-landing drill on a beach near the major Taipei Port just outside the capital, simulating the repulsion of an enemy force with ground troops and tanks amid high military tensions with neighbouring China.

The storm has disrupted parts of Taiwan's main annual Han Kuang exercises and air-raid drills that started on Monday, as authorities cancelled some exercises citing safety concerns and the need to make preparations for the typhoon. 

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2023-07-27 01:49:00Z
CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS90eXBob29uLWRva3N1cmktc2h1dHMtYnVzaW5lc3Nlcy1ncm91bmRzLWZsaWdodHMtdGFpd2FuLTM2NTc2NzbSAQA

Faster clearance for Singaporeans visiting Taiwan with access to airport e-gates - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – Singapore passport holders visiting Taiwan will from Thursday be allowed to use the e-gates at the island’s airports for speedier immigration clearance, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

Travellers will first have to register at the immigration counters with their passports and have photos of their faces taken and fingerprints recorded.

According to Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency, Singapore is the sixth country – after the United States, South Korea, Australia, Italy and Germany – whose citizens will be allowed to use the e-gates at immigration.

Previously, the e-gates could be used only by Taiwan passport holders and foreigners who hold residency status on the island.

A ceremony to mark the start of this new privilege for Singaporean travellers is expected to be held on Thursday evening in Taipei, the Central News Agency reported. Officials from both Taiwan and Singapore will attend the event.

Media outlets in Taiwan said this latest move reciprocates Singapore’s decision to extend usage of its automated immigration lanes to Taiwan passport holders in April 2023 – it is now one of 51 jurisdictions whose passport holders are granted this access.

Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said in April that it aims to make automated immigration clearance the norm at the country’s airport and land checkpoints.

It expects 95 per cent of all arrivals at Singapore Changi Airport to be cleared through the automated lanes by the first quarter of 2024.

Taiwan is a popular tourist destination for travellers from Singapore, with 460,000 registered visitors to the island in 2019, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau in Singapore, almost 160,000 Singaporeans visited Taiwan from January to May 2023, more than 90 per cent of the pre-pandemic figures in 2019.

Among travellers from South-east Asia, Singaporeans number fourth after Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

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2023-07-26 23:00:00Z
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‘Just tell the truth, the sky won’t fall’: Chinese left guessing about Qin Gang - South China Morning Post

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1. ‘Just tell the truth, the sky won’t fall’: Chinese left guessing about Qin Gang  South China Morning Post
2. Snap Insight: Foreign Minister Qin Gang's abrupt removal is embarrassing for Beijing and Xi Jinping  CNA
3. The questions that remain over China's removal of Qin Gang  The Straits Times
4. Wang Yi’s return as China’s foreign minister is a signal of continuity  South China Morning Post
5. Qin’s removal reveals a messy portrait of China  Hindustan Times
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-07-26 13:26:26Z
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Cambodian PM Hun Sen to step down after four decades - CNA

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-serving leaders, said on Wednesday (Jul 26) he will resign and hand power to his eldest son after almost four decades of hardline rule.

The former Khmer Rouge cadre has run the kingdom since 1985, eliminating all opposition to his power, with opposition parties banned, challengers forced to flee and freedom of expression stifled.

His Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won a landslide victory in an election on Sunday with no meaningful opposition, taking 82 per cent of the vote, paving the way for a dynastic succession to his eldest son that some critics have compared to North Korea.

"I would like to ask for understanding from the people as I announce that I will not continue as prime minister," the 70-year-old said in a special broadcast on state television.

Election authorities disqualified the only serious challenger, the Candlelight Party, on a technicality in advance of the election, and the CPP is expected to win all but five lower house seats.

The government hailed the 84.6 per cent turnout as evidence of the country's "democratic maturity" but Western powers including the United States and European Union condemned the poll as neither free nor fair.

The newly elected parliament will convene on Aug 21 and a new cabinet will be sworn in the next day.

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2023-07-26 07:37:00Z
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Snap Insight: Foreign Minister Qin Gang's abrupt removal is embarrassing for Beijing and Xi Jinping - CNA

PATH FOR “WOLF WARRIOR” DIPLOMACY

For China’s diplomacy, it has meant confusion, as the change in minister has seemed to seize the mechanisms of the ministry and led to other countries being unable to advance their diplomatic goals. Mr Qin missed a key Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers’ meeting in Indonesia, for instance, and a host of bilateral and multilateral meetings that went with it.

Furthermore, Mr Qin's ouster makes it less clear how China’s diplomats should present themselves: Should they be bold and brash as Mr Qin had been earlier in his career as a wolf warrior, or cautious and less combative to avoid a similar fate?

Even with the most-senior diplomat, Wang Yi, being a similarly confident and at times abrasive voice, lower-level Chinese foreign service employees keen for promotion are unlikely to want to stick their neck out right now.

Over time, Beijing will no doubt bring greater stability to the top of the ministry, installing another minister and moving on from Mr Qin’s short tenure. But for now, the abrupt way in which Mr Qin was kicked to the kerb, with his silent disappearance creating a vacuum for speculation, has just created turbulence and disorientation in China’s diplomacy. 

Christian Le Miere is a foreign policy adviser and the founder and managing director of Arcipel, a strategic advisory firm based in London.

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2023-07-26 01:30:00Z
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China's New Foreign Minister Wang Yi Has Longstanding Ties With US Counterparts - Bloomberg

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1. China's New Foreign Minister Wang Yi Has Longstanding Ties With US Counterparts  Bloomberg
2. China replaces foreign minister Qin Gang with predecessor Wang Yi, after brief stint and weeks of speculation  CNA
3. China removes foreign minister Qin Gang; Wang Yi gets old job back  The Straits Times
4. China Names Wang Yi New Foreign Minister to Replace Qin Gang  Bloomberg
5. Gone in seven months: China's fired foreign minister Qin Gang  CNA
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2023-07-25 19:09:14Z
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