Former Malaysia PM Mahathir, 98, hospitalised again - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysia prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 98, has been admitted to hospital again, his office said, confirming media reports after the ex-premier of more than two decades missed a court hearing on Tuesday (Feb 13).

The nonagenarian has been in and out of hospital in recent years. He has a history of heart problems and has undergone bypass surgeries.

Mahathir had been scheduled to attend a court proceeding relating to his lawsuit against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for allegedly making defamatory statements questioning the former leader's racial origins.

The judge postponed the hearing to Jul 19 after Mahathir's lawyer told the court that his client had been admitted to the National Heart Institute since Jan 26.

Ahmad Zahid’s lawyer suggested that the trial begin in October, but the judge rejected the proposal and asked for earlier dates to be fixed.

“We can vacate other cases to accommodate this trial. Most probably, Tun Mahathir is one of the oldest plaintiffs in this court,” said Judicial Commissioner Gan Techiong.

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2024-02-13 11:40:49Z
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Indonesia Elections 2024: As most populous province, West Java could tip the scales - CNA

WEST JAVA: A stable economy, more job opportunities and equal treatment of citizens are among the aspirations on the wish list of West Java voters for Indonesia’s next president. 

“The leader I want is aware of these three things: awareness of position, awareness of conditions and awareness of the situation,” said one resident Imam Iskandar. 

West Java, Indonesia’s most populous province, is often included among the top priorities of political parties in canvassing for votes. 

It is home to about 50 million people and has the highest number of registered voters at close to 36 million, making it a pivotal battleground for Wednesday’s (Feb 14) elections.

The province is also unique in terms of the high plurality of support for parties, observers told CNA. 
 
West Java typically gives candidates the opportunity to raise the number of votes that they previously may have lost, or strengthen wins where they may have had a strong support base.

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2024-02-13 09:21:27Z
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Jailed Thai ex-PM Thaksin to be freed: Justice minister - CNA

BANGKOK: Jailed former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is to be freed, the kingdom's justice minister said on Tuesday (Feb 13), possibly as soon as the weekend - just six months after returning from 15 years of self-imposed exile.

The controversial billionaire, twice elected premier and ousted in a 2006 military coup, was jailed for eight years on graft and abuse of power charges in August, but within days had his sentence cut to one year by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong said on Tuesday that the former Manchester City owner, 74, would be among 930 prisoners granted early release.

"He is in the group where they are in a critical condition or aged over 70. He will be released after six months automatically," Tawee Sodsong told reporters.

Thaksin was jailed on Aug 22 last year, and Thai media reported that his release could come any day from Saturday.

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2024-02-13 04:40:42Z
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Indian police fire tear gas as protesting farmers march to capital - CNA

"OPPRESSING US" 

"We tried our best to solve our problems through discussions with the government, but they are insistent on oppressing us," Sarwan Singh Pandher, a top farmers' union official from Punjab, told reporters.

The farmers are demanding a law to fix a minimum price for their crops, besides a clutch of other concessions including waiving off loans.

"The government should listen to the farmers instead of using tear gas shells and guns against them," said Randeep Surjewala, an opposition Congress MP from Haryana, where many of the protesting farmers come from.

Farmers have called for a "Delhi Chalo", or "March to Delhi", echoing protests in January 2021 when farmers breached barricades and marched into the city on Republic Day.

Protests by farmers against agricultural reform bills in November 2020 lasted for more than a year, forming the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government since it came to power in 2014.

Tens of thousands of farmers then set up makeshift camps, with at least 700 people killed during the protests.

In November 2021, a year after protests began, Modi pushed through parliament the repeal of three contentious laws that farmers claimed would let private companies control the country's agriculture sector.

Thousands of Indian farmers die by suicide every year because of poverty, debt and crops affected by ever-more erratic weather patterns caused by climate change.

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2024-02-13 08:04:00Z
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Indonesia Elections 2024: Presidential hopefuls avoid religious, ethnic narratives to win over voters - CNA

Candidate Anies Baswedan, who recently held a dialogue session with the Chinese community in Jakarta’s Chinatown, said: "In every election, there are bound to be different choices and these different choices will definitely be associated as a form of polarisation.

“After the election is over, everyone is an Indonesian citizen who has the same right to receive services from the state (and) to get opportunities from the state. Therefore, after the election is over, the elected president needs to embrace everyone (and) work together with everyone."

In 2017, Mr Anies allegedly used identity politics to win the Jakarta gubernatorial election against incumbent Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, who is a Christian and Chinese Indonesian.

ISLAMIC SUPPORT

Identity politics may not be prevalent in this year's contest because all three pairs of candidates are supported by figures who have good Islamic credentials, according to political observers.

"There are no certain negative Islamic-related issues that can be directed towards each of these candidates,” Indonesian Survey Institute executive director Djayadi Hanan told CNA.

“So it is difficult to use identity politics to pinpoint if somebody is against Islam or not, or to claim that you are the only candidate fighting for Islam."

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2024-02-13 04:13:00Z
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Indonesia Elections 2024: More celebrities are vying to be Members of Parliament. What's the driving force? - CNA

Mr Hadar Nafis Gumay, executive director of non-for-profit organisation Network for Democracy and Electoral Integrity (NETGRIT) echoed the sentiment.

“Parties must disclose to the public how and why a particular candidate is nominated because the nomination process for parliamentary candidates is not done at a party convention for everyone to see,” he told CNA.

Mr Willy Aditya, the executive chairman of the National Democratic Party (Nasdem) said that all of its candidates have gone through a rigorous vetting process.

"The public figures whom we nominate are those who have been in the party for a long time and slowly made their way up from the bottom," he told CNA.

Among the parliamentary candidates nominated by Nasdem are singer Anisa Bahar and television host Choky Sitohang. The former is running for the first time while the latter failed to secure enough votes in 2019 and is running for the second time.

Meanwhile, National Mandate Party (PAN) executive chairwoman, Mdm Zita Anjani said her party is treating all of its cadres equally and defended its celebrity nominees.

“PAN is opening its doors to everyone. Our MPs are quality MPs including the celebrities. That’s why our celebrity MPs get re-elected time and time again,” she said in an interview with online portal Rakyat Merdeka on Jan 18. 

PAN is home to several celebrity MPs who are now running for re-election including comedian Eko Patrio, soap opera actor Primus Yustisio and movie star Desy Ratnasari.

RECOGNITION NOT A GUARANTEE FOR VOTES

But fame alone does not necessarily mean a candidate will secure enough votes and get elected into office.

In 2019, only 14 actors, comedians and musicians secured a seat in parliament. 

Among those who failed were some of the biggest names in the Indonesian entertainment industry like Katon Bagaskara, the frontman of Indonesia’s legendary band Kla Project; Ahmad Dhani Prasetyo of another legendary band Dewa; and veteran comedian Dedi “Miing” Gumelar.

“Sometimes these celebrities are nominated just to draw more attention to their respective political parties so that the parties will get enough votes to qualify for a seat in parliament,” Mdm Khoirunnisa of Perludem said. 

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2024-02-12 22:00:00Z
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'Tears, hugs' as two Israeli-Argentinian hostages rescued from Gaza - CNA

RAMAT GAN: There were hugs and tears at Israel's largest hospital on Monday (Feb 12) as two Gaza hostages were reunited with their families after being rescued in a deadly military raid.

Luis Har, 70, and Fernando Simon Marman, 60, embraced relatives at Sheba Hospital after being airlifted from Gaza's southern city of Rafah.

AFP journalists in Gaza saw the bodies of some of around 100 Palestinians killed in air strikes accompanying the rescue operation, according to a toll from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Speaking from Sheba where the two rescued men were undergoing medical tests, Har's son-in-law described "a lot of tears, hugs, not many words".

"Luckily for us, as a family, they were saved tonight. But I must say that the job is not done," Idan Bejerano told journalists at Sheba hospital near Tel Aviv.

"We are happy today, but we didn't win. It's just another step towards bringing all the other" hostages home, he continued.

Bejerano told AFP the family had endured a "tough" and exhausting wait, trying to dispel rumours while militants released videos of some captives.

Dozens of press cameras filled the main hall of Sheba Hospital, where patients were wheeled through by medics.

"I COULDN'T BELIEVE HE WAS REAL"

Marman's niece, Gefen Sigal Ilan, said she was still "shaking" from the news of her uncle's rescue. "When I saw him I couldn't believe he was real," she told AFP.

She said the families of hostages will keep fighting for the release of other captives. "I want to say we will not stop until all hostages are free... We will fight for their freedom," said Ilan, 36.

The two men were taken captive from kibbutz Nir Yitzhak in southern Israel, so close to Rafah that the raid to rescue them could be heard from the rural community.

"From two o'clock in the morning, we started hearing booms and noises," said Moshe Schori, the kibbutz manager, adding that "we couldn't sleep".

"Only in the morning we saw on the news that they (Israeli forces) released two people who were in our kibbutz," he added, standing outside the home from which they were snatched on October 7.

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2024-02-12 16:45:13Z
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