South Korea seeks talks with striking doctors as return to work deadline looms - CNA

NOT ENDING SOON

Analysts say the government's hardline stance may play well for them ahead of legislative elections set for Apr 10.

"If the government were to back down now, they would perceive it as a major setback ahead of the upcoming general elections," Kim Jae-heon, the secretary general of an NGO advocating free medical care, told AFP.

But doctors "believe that stepping back at this point would result in their own disadvantage. It seems the current standoff will continue for a while".

Proponents of the reform say doctors are mainly concerned the changes could erode their salaries and social status. The government says South Korea has one of the lowest doctor-to-patient ratios among developed countries.

Polling shows up to 75 percent of the public support the reforms, and President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has taken a hard line on the striking doctors, has seen his approval ratings tick up.

Kim Sung-ju, head of the Korean Cancer Patients Rights Council, told AFP that patients' lives were being held "hostage".

"If the entire system comes to a halt simply because (junior doctors) have left, it truly highlights the shortage of doctors," he said.

"It is astonishing that they are... using patients' lives as leverage to further their own interests."

The mass work stoppage resulted in the cancellation and postponement of surgeries, chemotherapy and C-sections, with the government raising its public health alert to the highest level.

Kim Tae-hyeon, the head of the Korean ALS Association, said the striking doctors were "worse than organised criminals."

"In hospice wards and intensive care units, (patients) are struggling to stay alive," he added.

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2024-02-29 02:31:00Z
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Malaysia court reinstates abuse of power charges against ex-PM Muhyiddin - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian appeal court on Wednesday (Feb 28) reinstated charges of abuse of power against opposition leader and former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, state news agency Bernama reported.

A Kuala Lumpur high court had thrown out the four charges and acquitted Muhyiddin in August, ruling those had not detailed his alleged offences. Muhyiddin, who led Malaysia for 17 months between 2020 and 2021, had pleaded not guilty and had called the charges politically motivated.

However, a three-member Court of Appeal bench on Wednesday unanimously ruled that the case against Muhyiddin be returned to a sessions court for further action, Bernama reported. The court found the charges were unambiguous and there was no necessity to give further details on the alleged offences.

Muhyiddin's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.

The former premier and his party have faced graft investigations since Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's coalition come to power in November 2022.

Muhyiddin, who leads Malaysia's conservative, Malay-centric opposition bloc, is also charged with two counts of money laundering and has been accused of receiving bribes worth RM232.5 million (US$48.77 million), which he has denied.

Muhyiddin has accused Anwar of orchestrating a political vendetta, which the premier has rejected.

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2024-02-28 11:20:00Z
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Resorts World Genting closes two casinos effective immediately - New Straits Times

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1. Resorts World Genting closes two casinos effective immediately  New Straits Times
2. End of an era as Genting Malaysia closes 2 casinos  Free Malaysia Today
3. Resorts World Genting shuts two of its three casinos  The Edge Malaysia
4. GGRAsia – Gaming venues at RWG shut for upgrades: GEN Malaysia  GGRAsia
5. RWG's Circus Palace and Hollywood Casino to Close Feb 28  World Casino Directory

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2024-02-28 08:00:59Z
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Biden: Israel agrees to halt military activity in Gaza during Ramadan - CNA

NEW YORK: US President Joe Biden said Israel has agreed not to engage in military activities during Ramadan in Gaza, where it is at war with Hamas militants, and said the Jewish state risked losing support from the rest of the world as Palestinians die in high numbers.

Biden, who made his remarks during an appearance on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers, said Israel had committed to making it possible for Palestinians to evacuate from Rafah in Gaza's south before intensifying its campaign there to destroy Hamas.

Biden, whose remarks were recorded on Monday and broadcast on Tuesday (Feb 27), said there was an agreement in principle for a ceasefire between the two sides while hostages were released.

"Ramadan is coming up, and there’s been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan, as well, in order to give us time to get all the hostages out," he said.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is expected to begin on the evening of Mar 10 and end on the evening of Apr 9.

CEASEFIRE SETS PATH TO TWO-STATE SOLUTION

Biden said a temporary ceasefire would ease relationships with Israel's neighbours and jumpstart a process for Palestinians to have their own state.

"That gives us time to begin to move in directions that a lot of Arab countries are prepared to move in. For example, Saudi Arabia is ready to recognize Israel. Jordan is. Egypt - there are six other states. I’ve been working with Qatar," Biden said.

"If we get ... that temporary ceasefire, we’re going to be able to move in a direction where we can change the dynamic and not have a two-state solution immediately but a process to get to a two-state solution, a process to guarantee Israel’s security and the independence of the Palestinians," he said.

Biden said on Monday he hoped to have a ceasefire in the conflict by the following Monday. However, there has been little indication of progress in line with that pace from Israel, Hamas or the countries mediating between them, Qatar and Egypt.

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2024-02-27 22:14:44Z
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Macron not ruling out sending Western troops to Ukraine - CNA

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron triggered a shockwave in Europe on Tuesday (Feb 27) by refusing to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.

Macron had hosted a conference of European leaders on Monday - just over two years to the day after Russia invaded Ukraine - seeking to rally greater support for Kyiv, which faces increasing battlefield challenges and dwindling munition stocks.

He painted a grim picture of Russia under President Vladimir Putin, arguing there had been a "change of posture" even in the last months that had seen a hardening of its stance both domestically and in Ukraine.

"Nothing can be excluded to pursue our objective: Russia cannot and must not win this war," Macron said after the conference gathering leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda that ended with a midnight press conference.

While there was "no consensus" on the sending of Western ground troops to Ukraine, "nothing should be excluded. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war", Macron added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov offered a muted initial reaction on Tuesday, saying that sending Western troops to Ukraine was "absolutely not in the interests of these countries, they should be aware of this".

"CAN'T RULE OUT ANYTHING"

Macron had refused to say more about France's position, citing the need for "strategic ambiguity" but saying the issue was mentioned "among the options".

"We are convinced that the defeat of Russia is indispensable to security and stability in Europe," Macron said.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, accused by critics of being too cosy with Moscow, said after the meeting that there was disunity on the issue at the meeting.

"There are countries that are ready to send their own soldiers to Ukraine, there are countries that say never - Slovakia is among them - and there are countries that say that this proposal should be considered," he said.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden, which is set to join NATO, poured initial cold water on the idea, saying "it's not on the cards at all for the moment".

"For the moment, we're busy sending advanced (military) equipment to Ukraine," Kristersson said.

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2024-02-27 10:59:06Z
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DNA tests confirm death of Japan radical wanted for decades - CNA

TOKYO: DNA analysis has confirmed that a 70-year-old man who confessed on his hospital deathbed last month to being one of Japan's most-wanted fugitives was indeed the suspect, police said Tuesday (Feb 27).

Satoshi Kirishima, a former member of a Japanese radical leftist group behind deadly bomb attacks in the 1970s, was wanted for nearly 50 years, with his bespectacled, smiling mugshots almost omnipresent outside police stations across Japan.

The saga took a sudden twist last month when a terminally ill man hospitalised near Tokyo declared on his deathbed that he was Kirishima - prompting hospital staff to alert police - only to die a few days later.

Through subsequent DNA analysis, "the person who died at the hospital on Jan 29 was confirmed to be Satoshi Kirishima himself", a Tokyo police spokesman told AFP on Tuesday.

With his identity now verified, "we sent five case files (involving him) to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office today", the spokesman said.

In one of those five cases, Kirishima allegedly helped plant a homemade bomb that blasted away parts of a building in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district in April 1975.

While interrogated by police shortly before his death, Kirishima recounted details about his family and the extremist group that only he could have known, according to local media.

A young Kirishima was a member of the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front, which in the 1970s orchestrated a series of fatal bomb attacks on corporate behemoths, including one at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that killed eight people.

"I want to meet my death with my real name," he reportedly told staff at the hospital before his death.

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2024-02-27 10:05:00Z
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Biden says Israel agrees to stop Gaza attacks for Ramadan as Hamas mulls draft truce proposal - CNA

US and Israeli officials discussed a ceasefire proposal last week with Qatari and Egyptian mediators at a meeting in Paris. Delegations from Hamas and Israel are both in Qatar this week for so-called proximity talks, held in the same city through mediators.

Biden, who is running for re-election, told NBC there was an agreement in principle for a ceasefire between the two sides while hostages were released, adding that he hoped to have a ceasefire in the conflict by the following Monday.

"There are too many innocent people that are being killed. And Israel has slowed down the attacks in Rafah," Biden said, adding that Israel had committed to make it possible for Palestinians to evacuate from Rafah in Gaza's south before intensifying its campaign there to destroy Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as "delusional" Hamas' last offer for a ceasefire, during which all hostages would go free, Israel would withdraw its troops from Gaza and an agreement would be reached on an end to the war.

On NBC, Biden said that a temporary ceasefire would jumpstart a process for Palestinians to have their own state. Netanyahu, however, has rejected a two-state solution.

The new proposal now being weighed by Hamas included some of Hamas' initial demands for a ceasefire, and limited the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages to a ratio of 10 to one, the senior source close to the talks said.

The draft states Hamas would free 40 Israeli hostages including women, children under 19, elderly over 50 and the sick, while Israel would release around 400 Palestinian prisoners and will not re-arrest them, the source told Reuters.

Mediators have ramped up efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, in the hope of heading off an Israeli assault on the Gaza city of Rafah where more than a million displaced people are sheltering at the southern edge of the enclave.

After Hamas killed 1,200 people and captured 253 hostages on Oct 7, Israel launched a ground assault on Gaza, with nearly 30,000 people confirmed killed, according to Gaza health authorities.

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2024-02-27 08:33:12Z
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