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Kamis, 16 Mei 2024

More than 20 suspected Jemaah Islamiyah members arrested in Johor after attack on police station which left 2 officers dead - CNA

Mr Razarudin outlined that more than 20 people believed to be linked to JI have been arrested for questioning, including five members of the suspect’s family aged between 19 and 62.

He stressed that the suspect's father, aged 62, is a known member of JI.

Mr Razarudin added that two people who were making a police report at the time have also been nabbed as he said that “it was not logical” for them to be reporting an incident which allegedly took place two years ago, implying that they might be involved in the attack as distractions for police.

Mr Razarudin added that security has been stepped up at police stations, the state’s palace as well as the official residence of the Johor chief minister.

The bodies of the two police officers and the suspect have been taken to Hospital Sultan Ismail for autopsy and further investigations. The injured officer has also been taken to the same hospital for treatment, reported Bernama.

Jemaah Islamiyah is linked to Al Qaeda, the terror group that carried out the 9/11 attacks in the US in 2001. JI is responsible for some of Indonesia’s deadliest terror attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed more than 200 people.

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2024-05-17 04:35:00Z
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Putin and Xi pledge a new era and condemn the United States - CNA

UKRAINE

After the West imposed the most severe sanctions in modern history on Moscow due to the war in Ukraine, Putin pivoted Russia towards China.

Beijing, once the junior partner to Moscow, remains by far the most powerful of Russia's friends - and its top buyer of crude.

That closeness has perturbed some in the Russian elite who fear that Russia is now too dependent on China, with which the Soviet Union came to the brink of war in 1969 over a border dispute.

Xi said both sides agreed that a political settlement to the Ukraine crisis was the "right direction" and the joint statement said both countries were opposed to a drawn out conflict.

Putin, who arrived on Thursday for a two-day visit, said he was grateful to China for trying to solve the Ukraine crisis, adding that he would brief Xi on the situation there, where Russian forces are advancing on several fronts.

Describing his initial talks with Xi as "warm and comradely", he outlined sectors where the two countries were strengthening ties, from nuclear and energy cooperation to food supplies and Chinese car manufacturing in Russia.

One notable absence from Putin's delegation was Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, who was holding talks with Iranian officials.

Putin and Xi will participate in a gala celebration marking 75 years since the Soviet Union recognised the People's Republic of China, which Mao Zedong declared in 1949.

It was not immediately clear if Putin would make any further stops in Asia.

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2024-05-16 20:25:00Z
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35 promising young individuals from S'pore on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list - The Straits Times

(Clockwise from left) National sprinter Shanti Pereira, GetGo co-founder Johnson Lim and Neu Battery Materials’ Mr Kenneth Palmer and Mr Bryan Oh are some of the Singaporeans on the Forbes list. PHOTOS: ST FILES, NEU BATTERY MATERIALS

SINGAPORE – An innovative idea to tackle the problem of toxic batteries has propelled entrepreneur Bryan Oh onto a coveted ranking of the region’s most promising young people – the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list for 2024.

Mr Oh was working as a management consultant when he realised his problem-solving skills could be used for a bigger cause.

He launched Neu Battery Materials in 2021 with long-time friend Kenneth Palmer after noting that the boom in electric vehicles was resulting in more toxin-leaking lithium batteries in landfills.

The start-up has since developed the world’s first patented lithium battery recycling process using electrochemical separation.

Its efforts have seen Mr Oh and Mr Palmer included on Forbes’ ninth annual list of promising young talent in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr Oh told The Straits Times: “It’s a big honour... and this is a testament to me and Kenneth.

“Our recycling process has the ability to drastically reduce emissions, and our next step is to scale up and build a commercial recycling factory.”

Mr Oh and Mr Palmer are among Singapore’s 35 representatives from 27 entries on the list. Multiple people who co-founded the same company are grouped together as one entry in the list.

The entire list features 300 entrepreneurs and leaders under 30 across the Asia-Pacific.

There are 30 entries selected for each of the 10 categories: The arts (art and style, food and drink); entertainment and sports; finance and venture capital; media, marketing and advertising; retail and e-commerce; enterprise technology; industry, manufacturing and energy; healthcare and science; social impact; and consumer technology.

Singapore has entries across the 10 categories.

The Republic’s 35 representatives include 11 people who are not citizens, but who are based here.

The 24 Singaporeans include sprint queen Shanti Pereira, Rakuten Ventures senior associate Regina Ho and GetGo co-founder Johnson Lim.

The founders of three enterprise technology companies also made the list, including Mr Benjamin Long and Mr Kristoffer Jacek Soh, both co-founders of Beep.

Among the other Singaporeans listed are Mr Nigel Giam, co-founder of digital marketing agency Corsiva Lab; Mr Kit Yong, founder of agriculture tech start-up Forte Biotech; and Mr Evan Heng, founder of tuition centre chain Zenith Learning Group.

Zenith Learning Group offers tuition services to students aged seven to 18 through its two brands: Zenith Education Studio (secondary school/junior college) and Zenith Academy (primary school).

The company, which was founded in 2019, has also ventured into education technology by building an e-learning application called Zendora that allows primary school pupils to learn English, mathematics and science.

Zenith raised US$1.4 million (S$1.88 million) in a funding round in July 2023 led by investment firm Trihill Capital and East Ventures.

Mr Heng said: “It has been an incredibly fulfilling journey over the last five years. We aim to expand the scale of our impact by continuing to expand rapidly in Singapore and eventually to the rest of South-east Asia.”

India leads the Asia region with 86 entries, followed by China and Japan at 32 each, Singapore at 27, Australia at 26 and Indonesia at 18.

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2024-05-16 09:04:56Z
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Rabu, 15 Mei 2024

Myanmar workers among fastest-growing group of foreign workers in Japan as society ages - CNA

XENOPHOBIC AND RACIST?

As new policies are being formulated to bring in more foreign workers like Ms Myo Myo Thein, Japan suffers from a perception problem, having been accused of being “xenophobic” and “racist” by some.

In January, three foreign-born residents filed a lawsuit against the Japanese national and local governments over alleged illegal questioning by police based on racial profiling.

More recently on May 1, United States President Joe Biden said that "xenophobia" from China, Japan and India is hobbling their economic growth, and that they do not want immigrants.

However, experts said that the Japanese people’s acceptance of foreigners is improving.

“Of course, some kind of apprehension remains,” Mr Akio Kawato, the former Japan Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, told CNA’s East Asia Tonight.

The ex-diplomat, who is also a columnist at Newsweek Japan, added: “As far as Mr Biden’s statement, I’m not so much worried about it.

“I think maybe Japanese media has made … too much fuss about it. I think Mr Biden’s statement is mostly oriented to the domestic audience.”

As for whether Japan will eventually fully accept foreigners, Mr Kawato said he did not think it was a matter of ideas or ideology, but rather the needs of certain sectors that require foreign workers.

“Also, our data is mostly limited to so-called physical work. As far as intellectual work is concerned, several CEOs of major Japanese companies are now foreigners,” he added.

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2024-05-16 02:20:00Z
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Garuda Indonesia flight makes emergency landing after engine fire - CNA

JAKARTA: A jetliner taking 468 people from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia made an emergency landing on Wednesday (May 15) due to an engine fire, Garuda Indonesia said.

The Indonesian flag carrier said the Garuda-1105 flight to Madinah - operated by a Boeing 747-400 - returned to its original airport in the Indonesian city of Makassar at 5.15pm with all passengers unhurt.

"The decision was made by the pilot in command immediately after takeoff, considering engine problems that required further examination after sparks of fire were observed in one of the engines," said Garuda president director Irfan Setiaputra in a statement.

There were 450 passengers and 18 crew members on the flight, Irfan said, including pilgrims for the hajj, the days-long Muslim pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

They were all redirected to accommodations before boarding a replacement flight later on Wednesday to Saudi Arabia, he said.

Footage posted on social media, which has not been verified by AFP, purported to show the plane's engine catching fire as it took off.

This plane was grounded for a safety probe, Irfan said.

The airline, 60 per cent owned by the Indonesian state, suffered massive losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, grounding the majority of its fleet over travel restrictions and declining demand and laying off hundreds of employees.

The Southeast Asian archipelago relies heavily on air transport to connect its thousands of islands but has suffered a string of deadly plane crashes in recent years.

Its grim aviation record includes a crash in 2021 in which a Sriwijaya Air Boeing passenger jet mysteriously plunged into the Java sea after take-off from capital Jakarta, killing all 62 people on board.

In March, Indonesia's transport ministry said it had opened a probe into local airline Batik Air after two of its pilots were found to have fallen asleep during a flight.

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2024-05-16 02:10:00Z
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Slovak PM Fico no longer in life-threatening condition after being shot, minister says - The Straits Times

Mr Robert Fico was shot five times in a “politically motivated” assassination attempt. PHOTOS: REUTERS

BANSKA BYSTRICA - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in a life-threatening condition after he was shot in an assassination attempt when leaving a government meeting on May 15, a government minister said.

The gunman shot Mr Fico, 59, five times, initially leaving the prime minister in critical condition and undergoing surgery hours later on the evening of May 15.

“I was very shocked ... fortunately as far as I know the operation went well - and I guess in the end he will survive ... he’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment,” Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister Tomas Taraba told the BBC’s Newshour.

Mr Taraba said one bullet went through Mr Fico’s stomach and a second hit a joint.

News outlet Aktuality.sk cited an unnamed source saying Mr Fico was out of surgery and in stable condition.

Defence Minister Robert Kalinak told a news briefing hours earlier that Mr Fico had suffered “serious polytrauma” after several shot wounds.

Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok had said earlier that Mr Fico was in a life-threatening condition while he remained in the operating room.

“This assassination (attempt) was politically motivated and the perpetrator’s decision was born closely after the presidential election,” Mr Sutaj Estok said, referring to an April election won by a Fico ally, Mr Peter Pellegrini.

The shooting in the central Slovak town of Handlova, which Slovak media said was carried out by a 71-year-old man, stunned the small central European nation and drew international condemnation.

Slovakia, a member of Nato and the European Union, has little history of political violence. Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden joined Slovakia’s EU partners in expressing shock and condemnation of the shooting.

The country of 5.4 million has seen polarised political debate in recent years, including the hard-fought presidential election in April that helped tighten Mr Fico’s grip on power.

Since returning as prime minister last October, Mr Fico has shifted policy quickly. Opposition critics call it a power grab.

His government has scaled back support for Ukraine while opening dialogue with Russia, sought to weaken punishments for corruption and dismantled a special prosecutor’s office, and is revamping the RTVS public broadcaster despite calls to protect media freedom.

A person is detained after the shooting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. PHOTO: REUTERS

Mr Fico has long been critical of Slovakia’s mainstream media, refusing to speak to some outlets. Members of his party blasted media and opposition actions in recent months.

“I ask all to stop piling attacks, expressions of hate, on social networks, in the media, which are aimed at that or another political camp, regardless if it concerns the (government) coalition or the opposition,” Mr Sutaj Estok said.

After the attack, Mr Fico was rushed to hospital in Handlova where he had been chairing a government meeting. He was then transported by helicopter to regional capital Banska Bystrica for urgent treatment, it said, adding that his condition was too serious for him to be taken to Bratislava.

A Reuters witness heard shots as Mr Fico exited a building to shake hands with a crowd of people who had been waiting to greet him. Police then wrestled a man to the ground.

Slovak news media reported the shooter was a former security guard at a shopping mall, an author of three collections of poetry and a member of the Slovak Society of Writers. News outlet Aktuality.sk cited his son as saying his father was the legal holder of a gun licence.

“I have absolutely no idea what my father intended, what he planned, what happened,” it quoted the son as saying.

Broadcaster TA3 reported the leftist prime minister had been hit in the abdomen in the attack.

“I don’t think I will wake up from this,” 66-year-old Lubica Valkova told reporters on the scene. “This kind of thing just can’t happen in Slovakia.”

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Veteran leader

Mr Fico, a dominant force in Slovakia for two decades, has drawn criticism for taking a more pro-Russian stance in the Ukraine war.

Describing the shooting as a “monstrous” crime, Mr Putin said in a telegram sent to Slovakia’s President Zuzana Caputova: “I know Robert Fico as a courageous and strong-minded man. I very much hope that these qualities will help him to survive this difficult situation.”

Mr Fico is transferred from a helicopter to a hospital, in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. PHOTO: REUTERS

Mr Biden offered US help to Slovakia, saying in a statement: “We condemn this horrific act of violence.”

Slovakia’s biggest opposition party Progressive Slovakia called off a planned protest and called for restraint to avoid escalating tensions. Parliament suspended debate indefinitely after the attack.

Security officers move Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico into a car after the shooting, which followed a government meeting in Handlova, Slovakia. PHOTO: REUTERS

In his career, Mr Fico has moved between the pro-European mainstream and nationalistic positions opposed to EU and US policies. He has also shown a willingness to change course depending on public opinion or changed political realities.

An admirer of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Mr Fico has grown increasingly critical of Western support for Ukraine in its war with invading Russian forces.

Mr Fico was forced to resign as premier amid mass protests in 2018 triggered by the contract killing of Jan Kuciak, a journalist who had been investigating high-level corruption. Those protests exacerbated divisions in Slovak society that still linger. REUTERS

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2024-05-15 23:31:42Z
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Putin arrives in Beijing seeking greater support for war effort - CNA

TRANSACTIONS SLOW

Trade between China and Russia has boomed since the Ukraine invasion and hit US$240 billion in 2023, according to Chinese customs figures.

But after Washington vowed to go after financial institutions that facilitate Moscow, Chinese exports to Russia dipped during March and April, down from a surge early in the year.

An executive order by President Joe Biden in December permits secondary sanctions on foreign banks that deal with Russia's war machine, allowing the US Treasury to cut them out of the dollar-led global financial system.

That, coupled with recent efforts to rebuild fractured ties with the United States, may make Beijing reluctant to openly push more cooperation with Russia - despite what Moscow may want, analysts said.

Eight people from both countries involved in cross-border trade told AFP in recent days that several Chinese banks have halted or slowed transactions with Russian clients.

According to Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, the banks are "operating on better-be-safe-than-sorry principles, which reduces the volume of transactions".

"Finding out whether the payments are related to the Russian military-industrial complex ... is creating a considerable challenge for Chinese companies and banks," he told AFP.

Putin's post-election trip to Beijing echoes Xi's own visit to Russia after his re-anointing as leader last year.

Experts expect this week's highly symbolic meeting to result in toasts of the "no limits" partnership, as well as some deals signed and pledges to increase trade.

The two leaders are set to sign a joint declaration following the talks, the Kremlin said, and attend an evening marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Putin will also meet Premier Li Qiang - China's number two official - and travel to the northeastern city of Harbin for a trade and investment expo.

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2024-05-15 21:07:00Z
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