Latest news with #Teleg
Daily Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Express
Salleh moots friendly fights in overlapping seats for Sabah polls
Published on: Tuesday, June 10, 2025 Published on: Tue, Jun 10, 2025 By: FMT Reporters Text Size: Former Sabah chief minister Salleh Said Keruak said factors to be considered before deciding on friendly races include past election results, local support levels, proposed candidates, and potential seat swaps. (Wikipedia pic) PETALING JAYA: A Sabah Umno leader has proposed that parties contesting the upcoming state election consider friendly races in overlapping seats while remaining united in their overall goals. Salleh Said Keruak, the Sabah Umno treasurer, said rather than letting overlaps cause friction or lead to proxy independent candidates, it would be more constructive to consider friendly contests. Advertisement 'A friendly contest is not a free-for-all. It's a planned, respectful arrangement where parties agree to contest the same seat, with the understanding that whoever wins, the seat remains part of the coalition,' he said in a Facebook post. He said that to manage the arrangement effectively, parties must balance political realism with respect for one another's grassroots presence. 'Friendly contests are not about ego – they're about finding practical solutions on the ground. 'If at least half of Sabah's 73 state seats can be settled without overlaps, that already builds a strong foundation. For the rest, friendly contests should only be used when negotiations don't produce agreements, and even then, only with a clear understanding,' he said. Salleh, a former chief minister, said factors to be considered before deciding on friendly races included past election results, local support levels, proposed candidates, and potential seat swaps. He said this approach, which was also taken in countries like India, Germany, and Indonesia, would help reduce tension among party machineries, maintain unity, and give voters clarity. 'Some may argue that it's better to go solo and form a coalition after the election. But that creates uncertainty – for voters, candidates, and future governance. It opens the door to personal agendas and unstable post-election deals. 'A pre-election coalition gives clarity, builds trust, and leads to more stable outcomes,' he said. Last week, Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin said the party would not work with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah in the state election and would only consider joining forces with the coalition after the outcome of the polls. GRS chairman Hajiji Noor said on Thursday that the coalition would only decide on its alliances for the state election at its Supreme Council meeting after Aidiladha. While Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan have already announced an alliance for the Sabah polls, talks are said to be ongoing to rope GRS into the pact. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Telegraph
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
This disgusting tsunami of sewage is a national disgrace
As the first signs of Spring appear, we know it's time to get outdoors and enjoy our beautiful British countryside. People love taking advantage of the warmer weather to walk in our stunning landscapes, picnic among the daffodils in the park, or take a dip in the local river. But these simple pleasures have been ruined by the scandal of our polluted waterways. Our rivers, lakes and seas are awash with raw sewage. Years of Tory inaction has left our sewage system crumbling with leaking pipes, sewage spills and families left worried about letting their kids play in potentially contaminated water. The figures released by the Environment Agency yesterday showing staggeringly high sewage spills are a disgrace. They are the result of years of underinvestment and toothless regulation. No wonder customers are furious about rising water bills given these circumstances. The Conservatives let water companies divert bill-payers' hard-earned cash into the pockets of their bosses instead of using it to upgrade the sewage and water system. A lack of timely maintenance meant more pipes crumbled into ruin, and now the public have been left to pay the price of Tory failure. The public are furious. So am I. That's why I'm leaving no stone unturned to clean up our failing water industry once and for all. We've put failing water companies under tough special measures through our landmark Water Act which became law last month. It creates tough new powers to ban unfair bonuses for polluting water bosses and bring criminal charges against lawbreakers inside the water companies. In future, money for investment is ringfenced so it can only be spent on upgrading our crumbling infrastructure, not on unjustified bonuses or shareholder payouts as happened under the Conservatives. And that's just for starters. The Government has secured over £100 billion of private-sector funding that will be invested into the water sector over the next five years. That's the biggest investment into our water sector in history, and the second biggest investment in any part of the economy over the lifetime of this parliament. This investment will upgrade and build water infrastructure in every region of the country - sewage pipes, water treatment works, clean drinking water supplies, and new reservoirs. It will clean up our waterways – dramatically cutting sewage spills by 2030 – and ensure a reliable water supply in the years ahead. It will create tens of thousands of jobs around the country, help us build 1.5 million homes, support 150 major infrastructure projects and power new industries such as data centres. This is the regional economic growth the country voted for last year. I want the public to benefit from this investment as soon as possible. The Water Minister Emma Hardy and I have toured the country to see where and how this investment will be spent, visiting Windermere, the River Wye, and sites across Hampshire, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Northumbria and Somerset. I want to thank the Telegraph for its clean water campaign. My promise to your readers is this: I will not stop fighting until we have transformed the water sector so we once again have clean rivers, lakes and seas that our children and their children can enjoy for decades to come.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia launches 'massive' attack into Ukraine amid Trump-Zelenskyy dispute
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 14 missiles and 161 drones into the country in a massive overnight bombardment, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned against Russian deception in revived peace talks. Ukraine's air force said it shot down 80 of the drones launched in the latest Russian barrage, with another 78 lost in flight without causing any damage. The 14 missiles targeted energy infrastructure, the air force said, adding it would not reveal how many were intercepted. Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook that Russia conducted a "massive" missile and drone attack on "gas infrastructure." The aim of the "criminal attacks" was to "stop the production of gas, which is necessary to provide citizens' household needs and centralized heating," he said. MORE: Ukraine reels as Trump criticism echoes Russian disinformation campaign "While Russia continues to blatantly lie about not attacking civilian critical infrastructure, we are witnessing multiple missiles targeting Ukrainian gas mining facilities at once," Galushchenko wrote. "Such actions of the enemy prove only once again that Russia is trying to hurt ordinary Ukrainians, plunged into the cold in the middle of winter," he added. "This is outright terrorism." Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its strike targeted "gas and energy infrastructure facilities that ensure the operation of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine." "The strike's objective has been achieved," the ministry said. "All facilities have been hit." Russia's long-range strikes into Ukraine have not eased despite the opening of talks with President Donald Trump's administration aimed at ending Moscow's three-year-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine. MORE: Fact check: No, Zelenskyy doesn't have 4% approval as Trump claims; it's over 50% The talks began this week in Saudi Arabia without Ukrainian participation, Kyiv's exclusion prompting condemnation in Ukraine and across Europe. Such criticism appeared to irk Trump, who this week criticized European allies and the Ukrainian leadership for having failed to end Russia's war. The president went on to call Zelenskyy a "dictator without elections," claiming -- without providing evidence -- that his Ukrainian counterpart's public approval rating was as low as 4%. Trump also wrote on Truth Social that Zelenskyy "better move fast or he is not going to have a country left." Zelenskyy, meanwhile, suggested Trump is in a "disinformation space," attributing at least some of the U.S. leader's criticism to Russian disinformation campaigns. On Thursday, Zelenskyy marked the anniversary of the culmination of Ukraine's 2014 Maidan Revolution -- in which pro-Western protesters overthrew Moscow-aligned President Viktor Yanukovych. MORE: Trump calls Zelenskyy 'dictator' as Ukraine leader slams him for 'disinformation' "It was in these days of 2014 that Russia chose war -- it began the first steps towards the occupation of Crimea," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. "While people were being killed in Kyiv, and people were defending their freedom, Putin decided to strike another blow." "Since then, the world has been living in a new reality, when Russia is trying to deceive everyone," the president wrote. "And it is very important not to give in, to be together. It is very important to support those who defend freedom." Ukraine is continuing its own long-range campaign against Russian military and industrial infrastructure, especially targets linked to the country's lucrative fossil fuel industry. Ukrainian security services have referred to the campaign as "drone sanctions." Russia's Defense Ministry said on Thursday that its forces shot down 13 Ukrainian drones over the previous 24 hours. ABC News' Nataliia Popova, Oleksiy Pshemyskiy and Fidel Pavlenko contributed to this report. Russia launches 'massive' attack into Ukraine amid Trump-Zelenskyy dispute originally appeared on
