PM pledges full truth in Zara Qairina death probe, says would demand answers too if it were his family
He stressed that the case must not be taken lightly and urged the public to refrain from politicising it or spreading unfounded speculation.
'We are not taking this lightly and my directive is clear – there will be no compromise,' Anwar was quoted by Malay daily Berita Harian as saying at the Rancakkan Madani Kelantan programme at Universiti Sains Malaysia's Health Campus here.
He acknowledged public chatter linking the 13-year-old's death to high-profile figures but dismissed the speculation, reiterating that no one will be shielded if found guilty.
He said the case involves a loss of life and should be treated with seriousness regardless of a victim's background, warning against making defamatory remarks.
'This is a matter of death, whether the child of the poor or the rich, it is not a game. Even if it was my own family, I would want to know the cause,' he was quoted as saying.
He said he has instructed the federal criminal investigation director Datuk M. Kumar to personally monitor the case to prevent any mishandling.
Anwar also said he had no concerns about the outcome of the post-mortem process, even if it revealed uncomfortable truths.
Yesterday, the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) ordered police to exhume Zara Qairina's body for a more thorough post-mortem. She had reportedly fallen from a hostel building before her burial.
The AGC said the move was part of several instructions issued to ensure a comprehensive investigation, allowing police to gather additional evidence after reviewing the initial probe report.
The case has drawn nationwide attention, with rallies held in multiple Sabah towns to demand justice for the teen, underscoring public outrage and calls for accountability.
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Former NFLPA leader DeMaurice Smith talks about league's upcoming CBA tussle
This might be perfect timing for DeMaurice Smith to promote a book reflecting on his personal journey and tenure as executive director of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). Lloyd Howell, the man elected in 2023 to replace Smith, resigned last month in shame. JC Tretter, the former center and union president who gained powerful influence in recent years, stepped down, too, from his role as chief strategy officer. And with so many questions linked to a lack of transparency, particularly involving the election process and information from arbitration rulings not shared with the membership, the players union is mired in a big mess as David White begins as interim executive director. Smith's book, "Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America's Game" (Random House, 368 pages, $32), was released on Aug. 5 as quite the coincidence. Leadership is a key theme. 'In no small way, we saw that play out over the last two months, in an unfortunate way,' Smith told USA TODAY Sports. 'My hope is that the players learn from it and spend time with what I'd call 'ruthless introspection' of how did they get here? And with the hope they turn it around. But it has to start and end with the players. It has much less to do with who their leader is.' NFLPA CONTROVERSIES: Everything to know about scandals that rocked union That last point is debatable, given turmoil stemming from the damning revelations exposed by Pablo Torre on his podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out." Torre published a 61-page ruling from independent arbitrator Christopher Downey from a 2022 lawsuit filed by the NFLPA alleging collusion by team owners that was kept secret from the union. He revealed that another ruling determined Tretter encouraged players to fake injuries while engaged in contract talks. And he revealed that Howell was a part-time consultant for The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm approved by the NFL to invest in NFL teams, an apparent conflict of interest. Then ESPN reported that Howell's expense reports for visits to strip clubs ignited further scrutiny into his actions as union chief. Smith, citing a non-disparagement clause in his separation from the union, wouldn't specifically address the cases that blew up for the NFLPA, but he shared perspective on the role that White (the runner-up when Howell was elected) steps into on an interim basis while the search begins for a permanent executive director. White, formerly executive director and chief negotiator of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), was elected by a vote of player representatives from all 32 teams on Aug. 3. Key issues for White? 'First of all, 2030 is not as far off as you'd want to think,' Smith said, alluding to the expiration of the 11-year collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFLPA. 'The changing media landscape is interesting. But I think the most pressing issue is how do you come in and take a group of players who haven't been in a fight and teach them about what a labor union is supposed to do.' When Smith replaced the late Gene Upshaw and began his 14-year tenure in 2009, surely there was no acclimation period. The fight was already on as NFL owners, on the short end of the last CBA that Upshaw negotiated, had already declared that it would opt out of the labor pact and lock out the players in 2011. 'It made teaching and the role of getting players ready for a war a little bit easier, because one was on the horizon,' Smith said. Ultimately, Smith led the NFLPA into two long labor pacts, the last one struck in 2020 during the pandemic, which was passed by players by a razor-thin margin, with the key pushback involving the 17th game the union agreed to. Now, the league is going full-steam ahead on desires to eventually expand the schedule to 18 games, which would need to be negotiated as part of the CBA – and perhaps before the current labor pact expires. FREEMAN: Will there ever be such a thing as too much NFL? That the NFLPA's leadership is in flux undoubtedly looms as an advantage for the NFL in ramping up for the next CBA. The current labor pact allows players to receive 48% of NFL revenues, which fuels the record $279.2 million salary cap for 2025. 'The biggest job for a labor leader is teaching, and how important it is to focus on the right issues,' Smith said. 'Understand you are in labor-management paradigm. That's always a battle.' Reflecting on his tenure – which included the COVID-19 crisis, the Colin Kaepernick-ignited player protests and the evolving concussion protocols – Smith said that one of his regrets is that he got away from the hard-core teaching that he stressed from 2009 to 2017. 'Now is that opportunity for players to go back to their roots,' said Smith, mindful of the turnover in membership that comes when the average player career span is roughly three years. He cites key figures from the timeline over several decades on the NFL front and beyond. 'Even the players who are not going to be there for 2030, if they don't know who Bill Radovich is, if they don't know who Freeman McNeil is, if they don't know who Reggie White was, if they don't understand the significance of Curt Flood or Oscar Robertson, man, you won't get it right. 'Whether the issues are Commissioner discipline, an 18th game or practice time, if players don't understand the history and necessity of fighting, you won't get it right.' Shortly after the resignations of Howell and Tretter, I reached out and asked Smith if he would consider returning to his former role on an interim basis to help the NFLPA navigate through its adversity. He scoffed. 'Absolutely not,' he said. 'This is a challenge the players need to resolve for themselves.' DRAGON: What's next for the NFLPA after stunning resignation of Lloyd Howell? In his book, Smith recalls a frosty exchange with Howell during the transition. Smith said that he wrote a letter for his successor and planned to leave it in his old desk – in the tradition of U.S. presidents – but had second thoughts after his single interaction with Howell. He folded up the letter and stuffed it in his pocket. 'I wrote that letter in the hope that it would help frame what the job is, if someone were truly curious about getting it right,' Smith said last weekend. He wanted to be a resource. Especially having never met Upshaw, who died on Aug. 20, 2008, three days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 'There wasn't a day on the job where I didn't wake up and wish that I could talk to Gene,' Smith said. 'I kid you not. There wasn't a frickin' day.' He pledged that he's available for White. It's unclear how much White might tap that resource. Smith would certainly share thoughts about how players need to absorb how they are impacted by changing NFL business dynamics. The deal announced last week, with the NFL acquiring 10% equity in ESPN, resonated. 'It reminds you of the scale of this business,' Smith said. 'They're going to do what, $25 billion in revenue next year? This is the competition, and the ruthlessness of this business is far more intense off the field than it is on the field. And it's pretty intense on the field. 'You would want to know if there's a change in the rights fee (for ESPN),' he added. 'Those are the things the union needs to figure out. But most importantly, once you understand it, you're going to have to decide how do you fight it for your fair share? If anybody thinks that was just an idle, off-the-cuff comment from Roger (Goodell) – I forget when he said it, maybe a couple months ago – that he thought the players share was too high, you know that's what they do. They start messaging early.' Which means NFL players are pressed to reset their union priorities in a hurry and buckle up early for the next labor war that is surely coming. Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@ or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell. On Bluesky: This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DeMaurice Smith talks NFLPA direction under David White, new CBA fight
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Quincy is for everyone.' Meet Jackie Carvey, candidate for at-large city councilor
QUINCY ‒ Eight candidates for at-large councilor will face off in a Sept. 2 preliminary election, when voters will narrow the field to six hopefuls for three seats on the November ballot. One of those candidates is Jackie Carvey, a former music teacher who now works for a healthcare nonprofit. A first-time candidate for elected office, Carvey is campaigning on greater accessibility to information, transparency in government and community engagement. As councilor, Carvey said she'd work to bring more residents into the conversation and increase opportunities to participate in public life. She grew up in Vermont and attended the University of Maine, where she studied vocal music education, and later received a master's degree in teaching from Bridgewater State. Carvey taught music at Randolph High School for 13 years. Though she has since changed careers, she continues to sing in the Quincy Choral Society. For 11 years, Carvey has made Quincy her home. She now lives with her husband, Steve, and cat, Lucy, adopted from the Quincy Animal Shelter, in Ward 4. Quincy School Committee candidate Jackie Carvey: Civic engagement is important Carvey said she fell in love with Quincy and its various parks and neighborhoods while dog walking in between careers. As she began to feel more rooted in the community, she said she tried get more involved in public life, only to experience frustration at the lack of information on public meetings and events. "When you don't have the information you need, it's very easy to feel like you're not part of the conversation or involved in the community," Carvey said. Knocking on doors has taught how much Quincy residents care about their community. "They want to know more," Carvey said. Quincy School Committee candidate Jackie Carvey talks about the mayoral and city council raises One of the more contentious issues in recent years is the raises for mayor and city councilors proposed by Mayor Thomas Koch and approved by the sitting council in 2024. The order raised the mayor's salary by 79% from about $159,000 (including a travel stipend) to $285,000, and the increase in councilors' salaries from just under $30,000 to $44,500. After the State Ethics Commission launched a conflict-of-interest inquiry, Koch and the councilors deferred the raises until after the next elections. The raises take effect in 2026 for the councilors and 2028 for the mayor. Or perhaps not for the mayor. A group of Quincy residents are working to put a citizen petition on November's ballot that would set the mayor's salary at $184,000 and take away elected officials' ability to increase their own salaries. While Carvey said she lacks all the information surrounding the raises, she acknowledged that employees need salary adjustments over time to ensure just compensation for their work. "That being said, a 79% raise is really high," she said. "It's also interesting to me that both the councilors' and the mayor's raises were combined." On the councilors' raise, Carvey said that around $40,000 seems reasonable, especially given rates of inflation over the past several years. The mayor's $125,000 raise she said "seems significant" at first glance. "That's not to say he's not working hard," she said. "It's worth having more conversations about it. It would have been helpful to offer public hearings." Quincy School Committee candidate Jackie Carvey talks about the saint statues Carvey said public hearings would have also been helpful for the mayor's plan to install two, 10-foot-tall bronze statues of St. Michael and St. Florian on the façade of the new public safety building, set to open this fall. The statues cost $850,000, according to city officials. Commissioned as early as 2023, they were not disclosed to the city council, which approved the project's budget, or the residents until The Patriot Ledger reported on them in February. By chance, the first council meeting Carvey attended was the February meeting following the first report on the statues, attended by scores of opponents as well as police and firefighters there to support the administration. "The frustration was palpable all around," Carvey said. A forum where residents could raise questions or express concerns was "the missing piece" that could have improved the public debate, she said. "Issues can be controversial, as the statues," she said. "We won't always agree, but when people don't have the opportunity to be heard, that's where a lot of animosity can start." Asked how she sees the statues with respect to the separation of church and state, Carvey paused to gather her thoughts. "If we're looking at figures that represent our community well, there are opportunities outside the religious space that we can look to," she said. "We don't want to imply that one religion is superior to another. That really tarsnishes the idea that everyone is welcoming here. Quincy is for everyone." Development: Downtown Quincy storefronts come down. Lots of high-rise housing planned 'I have to do this.' Mahoney announces bid for Quincy at-large councilor Peter Blandino covers Quincy for The Patriot Ledger. Contact him at pblandino@ Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer. This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Jackie Carvey is candidate in Quincy at-large city councilor election Solve the daily Crossword
Bloomberg
4 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Indonesia Says to Continue Talks With Malaysia Over Disputed Sea
Indonesia will continue diplomatic talks with Malaysia over the oil-rich blocks in disputed waters instead of pursuing legal action, according to a senior official. 'There's a territorial border between Germany and the Dutch that hasn't been settled in 300 years. If the Dutch and the Germans couldn't finish in 300 years, why should we finish in 10?,' Indonesia Deputy Foreign Minister Arif Havas Oegroseno said in an interview on Friday. If the talks between the Southeast Asian nations 'take a long time, so be it.'
