Internal Affairs
[ The Vibes ] RM114 mil in seized assets returned to Najib, Umno
Assets totalling RM114 million, seized from Pavilion Residences on May 17, 2018, have been returned to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Umno. This comes after the prosecution decided to not file for an appeal in the forfeiture suit after it was dismissed by high court judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin. Deputy public prosecutor Faten…
Read More[ National Interest ] India Proves Critics Wrong on Kashmir
Thursday marks the second anniversary since India’s President Ram Nath Kovind revoked Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 of India’s constitution. In effect, the move ended Kashmir’s autonomy and turned Kashmir into a union territory equal in status to Delhi or the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Diplomats may have condemned the change to the status quo but, as legal specialist Kelly Buchanan noted for the nonpartisan Library of Congress noted,…
Read More[ Dawn ] Pakistan Cabinet gives the green light to cyber security policy
ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved the National Cyber Security Policy 2021 that allows establishment of a national cyber security response framework as the government constituted the Cyber Governance Policy Committee to implement the policy. As per the policy, a cyberattack on any institution of Pakistan will be considered an act of aggression against…
Read More[ Reuters ] Myanmar shadow government condemns army ruler for taking PM role
Members of a shadow government set up by opponents of Myanmar’s coup condemned on Monday the country’s military ruler for taking on the role of prime minister in a caretaker government and said the move was designed to try to win legitimacy. “The transition from a military council to a caretaker government is a reflection…
Read More[ The Irrawaddy ] COVID-19 Rips Through Myanmar Military: Soldiers
The State Administrative Council (SAC), the governing body of the military regime, has imposed a news blackout on COVID-19 deaths in the military, despite widespread infections. The infected junior personnel and their families do not receive treatment at military hospitals until their conditions are serious. Until then they are ordered to isolate in their accommodation,…
Read MoreCopying the 2014 Thailand coup d’etat, Myanmar military coup leader, Min Aung Hlaing declares himself Prime Minister, reneging on his 1 year election promise
In a dramatic, yet unsurprising, turn of event, the Tatmadaw leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing declared himself the Prime Minister in a speech broadcasted on national tv on Sunday, reneging on his 1 year election promise – extending it by 2 years till August 2023. The State Aministration Council (SAC) will now be replaced…
Read More[ NY Times ] Top Myanmar General Says Military Rule Will Continue Into 2023
Six months after seizing power, the junta’s leader on Sunday extended a state of emergency for two more years. Protesters said they would persevere.
Read More[ CSMonitor ] ‘Coup’ in Tunisia: Why Arab Spring’s last light is dimming
With a single announcement, the last embers of the once-blazing Arab Spring were dimmed by what some are calling a constitutional coup in the Arab world’s lone democracy. On Sunday, Tunisia’s populist president, Kais Saied, seized emergency powers for what he pledged would be a 30-day interim period. He dismissed the prime minister and defense…
Read More[ The Guardian ] ‘It’s too late’: US doctor says dying patients begging for Covid vaccine
What the US government is calling “the pandemic of the unvaccinated” is playing out in painful ways as some realize too late that they wish they had had the shot, while others hold out even as they suffer in hospital amid a national surge of new Covid-19 infections, primarily caused by the Delta variant. At…
Read More[ The Guardian ] Death toll rises and thousands flee homes as floods hit China
Days of torrential rain and massive flooding have hit China’s Henan province, bursting the banks of rivers, overwhelming dams and the public transport system and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes. At least 25 people have been killed and seven are missing in the provincial capital, Zhengzhou.The provincial authorities issued its highest level…
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