Children among those arrested last month as they waited for transport to take them to Malaysia
More than 110 Rohingya have been sentenced to prison by a military-backed court in Myanmar for attempting to escape refugee camps without the proper paperwork.
The group, which include 12 children, was arrested last month on the shores of the Ayeyarwady region as they waited for two motorboats they hoped would facilitate the start of their journey to Malaysia.
Continue reading...Woman recounts suffering on perilous journeys taken to escape oppression in Myanmar and squalid Bangladesh camps
Hatemon Nesa recalled hugging her young daughter tightly as the cramped, broken-down boat they were sitting on drifted aimlessly. They had set off on 25 November from the squalid Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh, where they had lived since 2017, when a brutal crackdown by Myanmar’s military forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee over the border.
The 27-year-old, like many other Rohingya refugees, was hoping for a better life in Malaysia. But about 10 days into the journey the boat’s engine stopped working and food and water supplies began to run out.
Continue reading...Australia gears up for first restriction-free party since Covid struck, with more than 1m revellers flocking to harbour
Australia is gearing up to celebrate its first restriction-free New Year’s Eve after two years of Covid disruptions, with more than a million revellers expected to flock to Sydney’s harbourfront and watch an elaborate fireworks display.
Sydney is one of the world’s first major cities to welcome in the new year and draws huge TV audiences around the world, with a public countdown and fireworks display over its famous opera house.
Continue reading...Contact lost for weeks with vessel that left camps in Bangladesh and was crossing Andaman Sea bound for Malaysia
About 180 Rohingya refugees are feared to have died after their boat went missing in the Andaman Sea, making 2022 one of the deadliest years for the refugees trying to flee the camps in Bangladesh.
In a statement on Sunday, the United Nations said it was concerned that a boat carrying the refugees, which had left the camps in the Bangladeshi city of Cox’s Bazar on 2 December bound for Malaysia, had sunk with no survivors, which would make it one of the worst disasters for Rohingya sea crossings this year.
Continue reading...Two of the dead found locked in an embrace, officials say, with 12 still missing after the disaster north of the capital Kuala Lumpur
A thunderous crush of soil and debris killed 21 people at a campground in Malaysia and rescuers dug through the mud in the night for another 12 who were feared buried in the landslide.
More than 90 people were sleeping on an organic farm when the dirt tumbled from a road about 30 meters (100 feet) above the site and covered about 1 hectare (3 acres) on Friday. Two of the dead were found locked in an embrace, according to the state fire department chief.
Continue reading...Fifty-nine people people have been rescued after a landslide hit about 3am north of the capital
A landslide killed at least 12 people while they slept at a Malaysian campsite near Kuala Lumpur early on Friday, officials said, as search teams scoured thick mud and downed trees for more than 20 people still missing.
A child and a woman were found among the dead, authorities said, while one of the eight people taken to hospital was pregnant. Others had injuries ranging from minor cuts to a suspected spinal injury.
Continue reading...Vessel thought to have embarked from Bangladesh is reportedly near Malaysia with 160 people onboard who have no food or water
Activists have called for urgent assistance to rescue 160 Rohingya refugees, including young children, who they say are stranded at sea on a damaged boat and have been without food or water for days.
The boat, which activists say is near Malaysian waters, is believed to have left on 25 November from Bangladesh, where almost 1 million Rohingya live in squalid and cramped refugee camps.
Continue reading...Former deputy PM who spent nearly a decade in jail takes office after five days of post-election deadlock
Anwar Ibrahim has been sworn in as the prime minister of Malaysia after five days of post-election deadlock were broken in a moment his supporters say was two decades in the making.
The 75-year-old rose from student activist to deputy prime minister in the 1990s, but was jailed on charges of corruption and “sodomy” before returning to parliament as opposition leader.
Continue reading...Failure of one coalition to achieve simple majority in election could bring further political inertia as country faces slowing growth and rising inflation
Malaysia was facing a hung parliament for the first time in its history as support for a conservative Islamic alliance prevented major coalitions from winning a simple majority in a general election.
Without a clear winner, political uncertainty could persist as Malaysia faces slowing economic growth and rising inflation. It has had three prime ministers in as many years.
Continue reading...Clear winner from three main contenders looks unlikely in first election since voting age lowered to 18
Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim took a narrow lead in Saturday’s general election, though he and his main contenders were far short of a simple majority needed to form the government, early results from the election commission showed.
The former premier Muhyiddin Yassin took an early close second, while the ruling coalition of the prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, put up the weakest showing among the three main contenders, losing ground in traditional strongholds, the results showed.
Continue reading...Saturday’s poll is first since voting age was lowered to 18, meaning there are 6m more voters than in 2018
Malaysians will vote in a tightly contested general election on Saturday, after two weeks of fierce campaigning in which politicians have sought to woo millions of young voters by embracing Instagram and TikTok trends.
Saturday’s election is the first since constitutional changes lowered the voting age to 18 and automatically registered voters, meaning there are 6 million more voters than at the previous election in 2018. It is believed to be the first time people under 40 make up the majority of the electorate.
Continue reading...Court says Russia had overall control of the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine at the time when the plane was shot down
A Dutch court has found three men guilty of the murder of 298 people onboard flight MH17, which was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile when it was flying over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
The court handed down sentences of life imprisonment to the Russian nationals Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy and a Ukrainian, Leonid Kharchenko, after finding them guilty of bringing down the plane and the murder of everyone onboard. They were ordered to pay “more than €16m” in compensation to the victims. The three men remain at large and it remains unclear if they will ever serve their sentences.
Continue reading...Mahathir has offered to become prime minister for a third time, as campaigning in Malaysia’s general election gets under way
Mahathir Mohamad, the 97-year-old elder statesman of Malaysian politics, filed his candidacy on Saturday as campaigning for the upcoming general elections began.
The prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, called for elections 10 months ahead of schedule, hoping to win a stronger mandate for his party and stabilise the rocky political landscape that has plagued the country over the past four years.
Continue reading...Despite his age and a health scare this year, Mahathir will defend his parliamentary seat in upcoming elections
Malaysia’s 97-year-old former leader Mahathir Mohamad has announced he will defend his seat in the general elections expected next month, though he wouldn’t say whether he would be prime minister a third time if his political alliance wins.
“We have not decided who will be prime minister because the prime minister candidate is only relevant if we win,” Mahathir told a news conference on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who becomes shortest serving PM in Malaysian history, hopes to win stronger mandate for party
Malaysia’s prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, has called for an early election, hoping to win a stronger mandate for his party and stabilise the rocky political landscape that has plagued the country over the last four years.
The ruling party’s rush for an election comes as the economy, still recovering from the Covid pandemic, has begun to feel the pinch of rising costs and a global slowdown.
Continue reading...Malaysian defence contractor fled before sentencing in US over bribery scheme that lasted more than a decade and involved dozens of US navy officers
A Malaysian defence contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard” who orchestrated one of the largest bribery scandals in US military history has been arrested in Venezuela after fleeing before his sentencing, authorities say.
The international manhunt for Leonard Glenn Francis ended with his arrest by Venezuelan authorities on Tuesday morning at the Caracas airport as he was about to board an airplane for another country, the US Marshals Service said on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Leonard Francis, contractor in US navy’s biggest scandal, was able not only to escape but also rented vans to load up his possessions
The US Marshals Service and other law enforcement agencies are facing questions over their competence after the central figure in the biggest scandal in US naval history was able not only to escape house arrest but also rented vans to load up his possessions.
When marshals arrived at Leonard Francis’s home in San Diego on Sunday, they found he had cut off his GPS ankle bracelet and fled, two weeks before his sentencing hearing. The whereabouts of the Malaysian contractor’s three sons, who had been living with him, was unclear.
Continue reading...Leonard Francis pleaded guilty in 2015 to offering $500,000 in bribes to Navy officers to steer official work to his shipyards
A military contractor known as “Fat Leonard” who pleaded guilty in the US Navy’s worst ever corruption scandal has escaped house arrest in San Diego, the US Marshals Service said on Monday.
Supervisory Deputy US Marshal Omar Castillo said Leonard Glenn Francis was on the run after cutting off his GPS monitoring ankle bracelet over the weekend, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Continue reading...Rosmah Mansor convicted of receiving over £1m to help a firm get a schools business contract
The wife of the former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for soliciting and receiving bribes in exchange for government contracts, one week after her husband was sent to prison for corruption linked to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.
Rosmah Mansor, 70, had pleaded not guilty to three charges of soliciting bribes and receiving 6.5m ringgit (£1.3m) in exchange for helping a company secure a contract to provide solar power to schools.
Continue reading...Federal court upholds conviction and 12-year sentence linked to fraud, saying appeal ‘devoid of any merits’
Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak has been ordered to begin a 12-year prison sentence after he lost his final appeal against a conviction linked to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, one of the world’s biggest financial frauds.
A five-member federal court panel said it unanimously found that Najib’s appeal was “devoid of any merits”, seemingly sealing the stunning downfall of the 69-year-old, who has become Malaysia’s first former PM to be jailed.
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