Malaysia's anti-graft agency orders Mahathir's son to declare assets - CNA

PUTRAJAYA: Businessman Mirzan Mahathir, the son of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, has been given 30 days to declare all his assets in the country and abroad.

It comes amid an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) into entities linked to the Pandora Papers and Panama Papers - leaked documents that reveal the hidden wealth of the rich and powerful around the world.

In a statement on Thursday (Jan 18), the MACC said it served Mirzan a notice to declare his assets after he was called to the agency's headquarters on Wednesday to assist in an investigation. 

“The notice is a follow-up action from MACC's investigation into the information from the Panama Papers, as well as his business activities involving the sale and purchase of government-linked companies (GLCs),” said the anti-graft agency.

The investigation is being conducted under the MACC Act, as well as the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.

MACC confirmed that it initiated the investigation in August 2022 as part of a probe into entities named in the Pandora Papers and Panama Papers reports.

The agency added that to date, it has called 10 witnesses to record their statements.

“The MACC is examining financial documents and asset ownership of the entities listed in those reports, and the investigation is still actively ongoing,” it said.

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2024-01-19 02:32:10Z
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What China's shrinking population means for the rest of the world - CNA

Why is this happening?

Observers attributed China's latest population decline to a wave of pandemic deaths early in 2023, after the world's second largest economy abruptly dismantled its strict zero-COVID regime.

Last year, overall deaths went up 6.6 per cent to 11.1 million, with the death rate reaching its highest level since 1974 during the Cultural Revolution.

Meanwhile, new births fell 5.7 per cent to 9.02 million in 2023. 

Births in China have been dropping for decades due to a combination of rapid urbanisation and a draconian one-child policy imposed from 1980 to 2015.

The birth rate was a record low of 6.39 per 1,000 people in 2023, down from 6.77 the previous year.

This is comparable with advanced East Asian countries like Japan - 6.3 - and South Korea at 4.9.

China is following in the footsteps of these societies, said Dr Zhao Litao, a senior research fellow with the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore.

Its population fall is similarly driven by long-term socio-demographic factors including delayed marriage, rising singlehood, changing lifestyles and values, and the high costs of childcare, education and housing.

In China, the average cost of raising a child until the age of 18 was 485,000 yuan (US$67,000) in 2019 - nearly seven times the country's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and much higher than elsewhere including the United States and Japan, according to Beijing-based think tank YuWa Population Research Institute.

Many Chinese have also chosen to shun parenthood as they continue facing job uncertainties and low wages, said observers. 

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2024-01-18 22:04:19Z
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Malaysia anti-graft agency serves Mahathir's son notice to declare assets - CNA

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has served businessman Mirzan Mahathir a notice under Section 36(1)(b) of the MACC Act 2009, requiring him to declare all movable and immovable assets in his possession.

In a statement on Thursday (Jan 18), MACC said the assets, whether within or outside the country, must be declared within 30 days from the date of the notice.

The commission said the notice was served after the eldest son of former Malaysia prime minister Mahathir Mohamad presented himself at the MACC headquarters at about 9.30am on Wednesday to assist in its ongoing investigation.

“The notice is a follow-up action from MACC's investigation into the information from the Panama Papers, as well as his business activities involving the sale and purchase of government-linked companies (GLCs),” it said.

The investigation is being conducted under the MACC Act 2009, as well as the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA).

MACC initiated the investigation in August 2022 as part of its investigation into all entities mentioned in the Pandora Papers and Panama Papers reports.

To date, MACC said it has called 10 witnesses for statement recording purposes.

“The MACC is examining financial documents and asset ownership of the entities listed in those reports, and the investigation is still actively ongoing,” it said.

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2024-01-18 11:32:38Z
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MACC orders Mirzan Mahathir to declare assets - Malay Mail

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has asked businessman Mirzan Mahathir to declare his assets.

In a statement today, the MACC said Mirzan was present at its headquarters in Putrajaya yesterday and a notice was issued to him under Section 36(1) (b) of the MACC Act 2009 which compels the businessman to declare all of his assets, whether or not they are in his possession in the 30 days from the date of the notice.

Mirzan is the son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“This order is a further action from the MACC investigation on information contained in the Panama Papers and Mirzan’s businesses which involves the sale and purchase of government-linked companies,” the MACC said.

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The MACC commenced investigations in August 2022 into all entities and related assets named in the Pandora Papers and Panama Papers leaks.

“Up to now, a total of 10 witnesses have been called to record their statements and the MACC is currently reviewing the financial documents and asset ownership of the entities listed in the reports.

“The investigation is ongoing,” MACC said.

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Last Wednesday, the MACC quizzed former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin’s wife Toh Puan Naimah Khalid and their two sons on assets belonging to the family as part of its probe.

Daim and his family have filed an application in court for a judicial review to challenge the investigation which they have claimed as unconstitutional.

The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that were published in 2016. They detailed financial and attorney-client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities.

The Pandora Papers, on the other hand, are a 2021 leak of nearly 12 million documents that incriminated hundreds of global elite for alleged tax avoidance and corruption.

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2024-01-18 10:34:32Z
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Pakistan hits 'terrorist hideouts' in Iran after Tehran strikes - CNA

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday (Jan 18) it carried out strikes against militant targets in Iran, with Tehran reporting a death toll of seven civilians after staging its own air raid in Pakistan earlier this week.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan and neighbouring Iran are both battling simmering insurgencies along their sparsely populated border regions.

The cross-border attacks add to multiple crises across the Middle East, with Israel waging a war against Hamas in Gaza and Houthi rebels in Yemen attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

"This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province, Pakistan's foreign ministry said.

It said the action was taken in light of "credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities", adding that "a number of terrorists were killed".

Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that at least three women and four children were killed in blasts around the city of Saravan in the country's southeast.

An "informed official" was quoted as telling state media: "Iran demands an immediate explanation from the Pakistani authorities about this incident".

Tehran and Islamabad frequently accuse each other of allowing militants to operate from the other's territory to launch attacks, but it is rare that official forces on either side engage.

"Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Islamabad's foreign ministry said.

"The sole objective of today's act was in pursuit of Pakistan's own security and national interest which is paramount and cannot be compromised."

Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar will cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, "in view of the ongoing developments", foreign ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a press conference in Islamabad.

ESCALATING TENSIONS

The attack comes after Iran staged missile and drone attacks on the Jaish al-Adl group late on Tuesday, after Tehran also launched attacks in Iraq and Syria against what it called "anti-Iranian terrorist groups".

Islamabad said the strikes in its territory killed "two innocent children".

Formed in 2012, Jaish al-Adl is blacklisted by Iran as a terrorist group and has carried out several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years.

Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Wednesday that Tehran respected the sovereignty of Pakistan but would not allow his nation's security "to be compromised or played with".

Islamabad called the strike an "unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan's sovereignty" and recalled its ambassador to Iran and blocked Tehran's envoy - currently in Iran - from returning to the country.

China, a close partner of Iran and Pakistan, urged restraint, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Wednesday saying both should "avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension".

The United States, meanwhile, condemned the Iranian strikes in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tehran had violated the "sovereign borders of three of its neighbours in just the past couple of days".

Pakistan has not specified where Tuesday's Iranian strike took place.

But Pakistani media said it was near Panjgur in southwest Balochistan province, where the countries share a border of nearly 1,000km.

The Pakistani military has been waging a decades-long fight against ethnic Baloch separatists in the province, the largest but poorest region of the country.

Hours before the strike, Prime Minister Kakar had met the Iranian foreign minister on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"This violation of Pakistan's sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences," Pakistan's foreign ministry statement said.

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2024-01-18 08:00:00Z
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Hezbollah rejected US overtures, still open to diplomacy to avoid wider war - CNA

BEIRUT: Iran-backed Hezbollah has rebuffed Washington's initial ideas for cooling tit-for-tat fighting with neighbouring Israel, such as pulling its fighters further from the border, but remains open to US diplomacy to avoid a ruinous war, Lebanese officials said.

US envoy Amos Hochstein has been leading a diplomatic outreach to restore security at the Israel-Lebanon frontier as the wider region teeters dangerously towards a major escalation of the conflict ignited by the Gaza war.

Attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea, US strikes in response and fighting elsewhere in the Middle East have added urgency to the efforts.

"Hezbollah is ready to listen," a senior Lebanese official familiar with the group's thinking said, while emphasising that the group saw the ideas presented by veteran negotiator Hochstein on a visit to Beirut last week as unrealistic.

Hezbollah's position is that it will fire rockets at Israel until there is a full ceasefire in Gaza. Hezbollah's rejection of the proposals presented by Hochstein has not been previously reported.

Despite the rejection and Hezbollah's volleys of rockets in support of Gaza, the group's openness to diplomatic contacts signals an aversion to a wider war, one of the Lebanese officials and a security source said, even after an Israeli strike reached Beirut on Jan 2, killing a Hamas leader.

Israel has also said it wants to avoid war, but both sides say they are ready to fight if necessary. Israel warns it will respond more aggressively if a deal to make the border area safe is not reached.

Such an escalation would open a major new phase in the regional conflict.

Branded a terrorist organisation by Washington, Hezbollah has not been directly involved in talks, three Lebanese officials and a European diplomat said. Instead, Hochstein's ideas were passed on by Lebanese mediators, they said. Reuters consulted eleven Lebanese, US, Israeli and European officials for this story.

One suggestion floated last week was that border hostilities be scaled back in tandem with Israeli moves towards lower intensity operations in Gaza, the three Lebanese sources and a US official said.

A proposal was also communicated to Hezbollah that its fighters move 7km from the border, two of the three Lebanese officials said. That would leave fighters much closer than Israel's public demand of a 30km withdrawal to the Litani River stipulated in a 2006 UN resolution.

Hezbollah has dismissed both ideas as unrealistic, the Lebanese officials and the diplomat said. The group has long ruled out giving up weapons or withdrawing fighters, many of whom hail from the border region and melt into society at times of peace.

Israel's Prime Minister's office declined to comment on "reports of diplomatic discussions" in response to questions from Reuters for this story. Spokespeople for Hezbollah and the Lebanon government did not immediately respond to detailed requests for comment.

The White House declined to comment on Reuters' reporting.

Hezbollah has, however, signalled that once the Gaza war is over it could be open to Lebanon negotiating a mediated deal over disputed areas at the border, the three Lebanese officials said, a possibility alluded to by Hezbollah's leader in a speech this month.

"After the war in Gaza, we are ready to support Lebanese negotiators to turn the threat into opportunity," one senior Hezbollah official told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He did not address specific proposals.

Hezbollah previously held fire during a 7-day Gaza truce in late November.

Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy, in response to a Reuters question at a media briefing on Wednesday, said there was "still a diplomatic window of opportunity," to push Hezbollah away from the border.

Hochstein has a track record of successful mediation between Lebanon and Israel. In 2022, he brokered a deal delineating the countries' disputed maritime boundary - an agreement sealed with Hezbollah's behind-the-scenes approval.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in whose cabinet Hezbollah has ministers, has said Beirut was ready for talks on long-term border stability.

During his Jan 11 visit to Beirut, Hochstein met Mikati, the parliament speaker and army commander. He said publicly at the time that the United States, Israel and Lebanon all preferred a diplomatic solution.

Hochstein was hopeful "all of us on both sides of the border" could reach a solution to allow Lebanon and Israel to live with guaranteed security, he told reporters.

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2024-01-18 08:52:56Z
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Sexual assault accuser confronts Donald Trump in NY trial - CNA

NEW YORK: The woman whom Donald Trump was found liable of sexually assaulting faced off with the former president on Wednesday (Jan 17) in a New York courtroom to say he subsequently ruined her reputation.

E Jean Carroll, 80, is seeking more than US$10 million alleging that Trump defamed her in 2019, when she first made her assault allegations public, by saying she "is not my type".

"It means I'm too ugly to assault," Carroll told the court.

Asked about how the comment damaged her reputation, Carroll said "previously I was known simply as a journalist, and now I'm known as a liar, a fraud, and a whack job" - quoting insults leveled at her by the 2024 White House hopeful.

There were tense moments in court as Carroll gave evidence just a few rows away from where Trump sat.

Carroll's legal team complained that Trump was making audible comments about her evidence and that jurors could be influenced, CNN reported.

The judge in the civil case asked that Trump lower his voice when conferring with his legal team.

"Mr Trump has the right to be present ... That right can be forfeited," the judge reportedly said. "I understand you're probably eager for me to do that."

"I would love it," Trump replied.

Following the day's proceedings, Trump used a media briefing to attack the judge for his refusal to delay the trial by a day so he could attend his mother-in-law's funeral.

"He said 'absolutely not'... I thought it was terrible," Trump said before heading to New Hampshire to give a speech ahead of the state's primary vote. "He's a nasty judge."

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2024-01-17 22:56:30Z
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