Delay in appointing judges, envoys and commissioners weigh Anwar down
From courts to commissions, key posts are going unfilled while Malaysian PM juggles coalition politics.
Protesters marching towards Merdeka Square during a protest against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur on July 26.
Back in May 2023, Transport Minister Anthony Loke dismissed reports that Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) vice-president Wee Jeck Seng would be appointed chairman of the national railway firm.
The episode seemed like an innocuous sidebar reflecting unnecessary political drama in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's crowded multi-coalition government.
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Straits Times
38 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Spain signals support for UN-led mission to stabilise Gaza
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Palestinians ride on a truck as they collect aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip August 10, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo MADRID - Spain signalled support on Wednesday for French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal of an international coalition under a United Nations mandate to stabilise Gaza, calling it "one of the tools" that could bring peace to the region. Macron said on Monday that such a U.N. mission would be tasked with securing the Gaza Strip, protecting civilians and working in support of unspecified Palestinian governance. He said the U.N. Security Council should work on establishing the mission, while France would also work with its partners. "The proposal ... is one of the tools that can help achieve peace and security in Gaza and the Middle East, as is the work of UNRWA as the U.N. agency for aid to the Palestinian people," the Spanish ministry said in an emailed reply to questions from Reuters. "This force must be a step towards building the two-state solution," it added, referring to the idea of bringing peace through the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in territory Israel captured in a 1967 war. Spain is a sharp critic of Israel's widening war in Gaza and last year joined a handful of EU nations in recognising a Palestinian state, a group now joined by France. By proposing a U.N.-mandated mission in Gaza, Macron is seeking to build on the momentum created by his recognition of a Palestinian state last month, which set off a domino of recognitions, with Britain, Canada and Australia announcing plans to follow suit next month. Spain's Foreign Ministry said a temporary U.N. mission could ultimately contribute to a successful transfer of power to a Palestinian state administration and to achieving peace and security for all. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore NEL, SPLRT disruption: Electricity surge shut down backup power switchboard, says LTA Singapore HSA seeks Kpod investigators to arrest abusers, conduct anti-trafficking ops Opinion The 30s are heavy: Understanding suicide among Singapore's young adults Singapore Jail for man who scammed at least 5 people over illegal cross-border taxi services Singapore Lawyer who sent misleading letters to 22 doctors fails in bid to quash $18,000 penalty Singapore 4 taken to hospital after accident near Sports Hub, including 2 rescued with hydraulic tools Asia Malaysia's anti-graft agency busts arms smuggling ring masterminded by senior military officers Singapore SG60: Many hands behind Singapore's success story Last week, Israel's security cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, in a move that expanded its military operations in the shattered Palestinian territory and drew strong criticism at home and abroad. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Israel pounds Gaza City, 123 dead in last 24 hours
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in north Gaza, as seen from Israel's border with Gaza, Israel August 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad CAIRO/JERUSALEM - Israel's military pounded Gaza City on Wednesday prior to a planned takeover, with another 123 people killed in the last day according to the Gaza health ministry, while militant group Hamas held further talks with Egyptian mediators. The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week and added to the massive fatalities from the nearly two-year war that has shattered the enclave housing more than 2 million Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated an idea - also enthusiastically floated by U.S. President Donald Trump - that Palestinians should simply leave. "They're not being pushed out, they'll be allowed to exit," he told Israeli television channel i24NEWS. "All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us." Arabs and many world leaders are aghast at the idea of displacing the Gaza population, which Palestinians say would be like another "Nakba" (catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during a 1948 war. Israel's planned re-seizure of Gaza City - which it took in the early days of the war before withdrawing - is probably weeks away, officials say. That means a ceasefire is still possible though talks have been floundering and conflict still rages. Israeli planes and tanks bombed eastern areas of Gaza City heavily, residents said, with many homes destroyed in the Zeitoun and Shejaia neighbourhoods overnight. Al-Ahli hospital said 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a home in Zeitoun. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore NEL, SPLRT disruption: Electricity surge shut down backup power switchboard, says LTA Singapore HSA seeks Kpod investigators to arrest abusers, conduct anti-trafficking ops Opinion The 30s are heavy: Understanding suicide among Singapore's young adults Singapore Jail for man who scammed at least 5 people over illegal cross-border taxi services Singapore Lawyer who sent misleading letters to 22 doctors fails in bid to quash $18,000 penalty Singapore 4 taken to hospital after accident near Sports Hub, including 2 rescued with hydraulic tools Asia Malaysia's anti-graft agency busts arms smuggling ring masterminded by senior military officers Singapore SG60: Many hands behind Singapore's success story Tanks also destroyed several houses in the east of Khan Younis in south Gaza too, while in the centre Israeli gunfire killed nine aid-seekers in two separate incidents, Palestinian medics said. Israel's military did not comment. Eight more people, including three children, have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said. That took the total to 235, including 106 children, since the war began. Israel disputes those malnutrition and hunger figures reported by the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Hamas chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya's meetings with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Wednesday were to focus on stopping the war, delivering aid and "ending the suffering of our people in Gaza," Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement. CEASEFIRE POSSIBILITIES Egyptian security sources said the talks would also discuss the possibility of a comprehensive ceasefire that would see Hamas relinquish governance in Gaza and concede its weapons. A Hamas official told Reuters the group was open to all ideas if Israel ends the war and pulls out. However, "Laying down arms before the occupation is dismissed is impossible," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. Netanyahu's plan to expand military control over Gaza, which Israeli sources said could be launched in October, has heightened global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger in the enclave. About half of Gaza's residents live in the Gaza City area. Foreign ministers of 24 countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia, France and Japan, said this week the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached "unimaginable levels" and urged Israel to allow unrestricted aid. Israel denies responsibility for hunger, accusing Hamas of stealing aid. It says it has taken steps to increase deliveries, including daily combat pauses in some areas and protected routes for aid convoys. The Israeli military on Wednesday said that nearly 320 trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and that a further nearly 320 trucks were collected and distributed by the U.N. and international organizations in the past 24 hours along with three tankers of fuel and 97 pallets of air-dropped aid. The United Nations and Palestinians say aid entering Gaza remains far from sufficient. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Putin heads to Trump summit confident he is winning in Ukraine
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox T-shirts with images of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are displayed at a Moscow gift shop. MOSCOW – Mr Vladimir Putin is heading to a planned summit on Aug 15 with Mr Donald Trump confident that Russia is in a dominant position on the battlefield as his military advances in Ukraine. That is likely to strengthen his determination to secure major territorial concessions when the Russian and US presidents meet in Alaska in return for a ceasefire that Mr Putin has so far been reluctant to concede to Mr Trump. Russian forces broke through Ukrainian defences in the eastern Donetsk region around villages leading to the town of Dobropillya, according to the Deep State monitoring platform, which maintains cooperation with Ukraine's Defence Ministry. They are consolidating positions and probing for weak points in defences to try to reach the road linking the town and the strategic city of Kramatorsk. Mr Putin and Mr Trump are set to meet as Russia's army grinds out gains in a summer campaign that is putting Ukrainian defences under mounting pressure, so far without achieving a decisive advance. The Russian president has repeatedly rejected calls from Mr Trump, Ukraine and European leaders to agree to a ceasefire to allow for negotiations on a peace deal to end the full-scale invasion that is now in its fourth year. 'Putin has much stronger cards to play than his opponents,' said Ms Marina Miron, a military researcher at the Defence Studies Department at King's College London. 'The Russian army is on the offensive, and they are dictating the rules.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore NEL, SPLRT disruption: Electricity surge shut down backup power switchboard, says LTA Singapore HSA seeks Kpod investigators to arrest abusers, conduct anti-trafficking ops Opinion The 30s are heavy: Understanding suicide in Singapore's young adults Singapore Jail for man who scammed at least 5 people over illegal cross-border taxi services Singapore Lawyer who sent misleading letters to 22 doctors fails in bid to quash $18,000 penalty Singapore 4 taken to hospital after accident near Sports Hub, including 2 rescued with hydraulic tools Asia Malaysia's anti-graft agency busts arms smuggling ring masterminded by senior military officers Singapore SG60: Many hands behind Singapore's success story Only a few lightly armed Russians bypassed defences around Dobropillya, and Ukraine is working to restore control, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Aug 12. Moscow wants to create the impression that 'Russia's advancing and Ukraine's losing' ahead of the Alaska summit, he said. Still, Ukrainian forces face a difficult situation in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, though they have had successes in pushing back Russian troops in Luhansk and in the northern Sumy region, Mr Zelensky said. Russia may be relocating as many as 30,000 experienced combat troops from Sumy towards the frontlines in the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions in preparation for an offensive by the end of August, he said. Chess pieces on the board Mr Trump has expressed disappointment at Mr Putin's intransigence following six phone calls. He threatened to impose secondary tariffs on countries buying Russian oil unless the Kremlin agreed to a truce. But after talks in Moscow last week between Mr Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff, the two sides announced their first summit meeting since Mr Trump's return to the White House in January. Mr Zelensky and European allies plan a call with Mr Trump on Aug 13, amid fears the US leader may concede too much to Mr Putin in return for a deal to halt the fighting. While Mr Trump's pushing for Russia to end the war, Mr Putin wants Kyiv to withdraw its forces fully from the Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine before he will agree to any truce. That would hand his army a victory in Ukraine's so-called Donbas area that it has been unable to achieve on the battlefield since Russia first incited fighting there in 2014. US and Russian officials have also been discussing a deal that would halt the war along current battle lines, leaving Russia in control of the parts of Ukraine's Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions that it currently occupies, according to people familiar with the discussions. A woman walks past a heavily damaged building following a Russian strike in the town of Bilozerske, in Ukraine's Donetsk region. PHOTO: AFP Mr Zelensky said Ukraine will not cede any of its territory to Russia. Territorial issues cannot be separated from security guarantees for his country because 'for Russians, Donbas is a bridgehead for a future new offensive', he said. Mr Trump told reporters on Aug 11 that there may be 'some changes' in land as part of an agreement. 'We're going to change the lines, the battle lines,' he said. Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte also said at the weekend that territory would 'have to be on the table' along with security guarantees for Ukraine. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas pushed back on Aug 11, saying 'we should not even discuss any concessions' with Mr Putin until Russia agrees to a full and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. Conceding to Mr Putin's demand for territory could deliver some of the most fortified Ukrainian positions in Donetsk and Luhansk to Russia while allowing him to avoid potentially massive troop losses from months of attritional warfare. Putin's cards Deepening manpower shortages are adding to stresses on Ukraine's defensive lines. 'Ukraine does not have enough soldiers and infantry, and that's clearly the most significant challenge,' said Mr Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, who has recently visited Ukraine's frontlines. 'The question here is really about sustainability' if the war were to extend into 2026 and beyond, he said. While the frontline is not in danger of collapse, Russian pressure is mounting, and Moscow's use of its own offensive 'line of drones' known as Rubicon has narrowed Ukraine's advantage in this field, Mr Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in a July 31 assessment on social media following a visit to the front. 'Russian forces continue to adapt, and Ukraine must find ways to stay ahead,' he said. Russia may be focusing on its advance toward Dobropillya 'to set informational conditions' ahead of the summit with Mr Trump, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War. Mr Putin is attempting to frame the seizure of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions 'as inevitable to push Ukraine and the West to capitulate to Kremlin demands', it said in an Aug 11 assessment. Even a failure to reach an agreement in Alaska may serve Mr Putin's interest if it buys him time to continue his offensive while persuading Mr Trump to delay the threatened US secondary tariffs as talks continue on a potential settlement. Russian forces have captured some 2,400 sq km in Ukraine so far this in 2025, about 0.4 per cent of the country's territory, according to Bloomberg estimates based on Deep State mapping data. 'Five key factors we assess are critical to determining the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war, such as financial power, manpower, firepower, morale and territorial control, indicate that Russia's advantage continues to grow,' said Mr Alex Kokcharov, Bloomberg Geoeconomics analyst. 'Moscow probably believes that it has a significant advantage over Ukraine, and that time is on its side.' BLOOMBERG
