VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol apologised on Monday for the deadly Halloween crush in Seoul, pledging to hold to account any officials found to be responsible for sloppy responses and to reform police and safety management systems.

The Oct. 29 crush killed 156 people, mostly in their twenties and thirties, and injured another 197 when revellers flooded the narrow alleyways of the popular nightlife district of Itaewon to celebrate the first COVID-19 curbs-free Halloween festivities in three years.

Yoon offered the apology during a meeting to review safety rules, as the country continues to mourn the crush victims. An investigation is under way into authorities' responses to the accident.

"I do not dare to compare myself to the parents who lost their sons and daughters, but as the president who ought to protect the people's lives and safety, I am heartbroken," he said.

"I am sorry and apologetic to the bereaved families who are suffering an unspeakable tragedy, and to the people who share the pain and sorrow."

Police have faced stringent public criticism and scrutiny over its responses during the tragedy, having dispatched just 137 officers to the area despite estimating in advance as many as 100,000 people would gather.

Last week, transcripts of several emergency calls made from the hours leading up to the accident showed that people had warned of a potential crush and urged interventions.

Yoon initially ascribed the authorities' poor handling to flaws in the country's crowd management and safety regulations. Following the reports of the call transcripts, however, he sharply rebuked the police and apologised to the victims and wider public.

At Monday's safety meeting, he vowed to overhaul the national safety management system, carry out a thorough investigation and bring those responsible for failings to account.

"In particular, extensive reform is needed in the police work, which is essential to preparing for danger and preventing accidents, in order to protect the safety of the people," Yoon said.

National Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun told parliament on Monday that more officers were dispatched than compared to pre-COVID-19 years and the 137 would have been sufficient to manage crowds of similar scale in general, but authorities could not expect that people would be concentrated into alleyways.

Opposition lawmakers demand the police chief and the interior minister be sacked. Yoon has rejected such calls. (Reuters)

After two decades as opposition leader, Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim was poised to finally become prime minister in 2020. But his alliance collapsed from infighting, leaving him as far away as ever from the top job.

Now, Anwar, 75, is hitting the national campaign trail again, trying to convince Malaysians to vote for him in the Nov. 19 election as he looks to finally fulfil his long-held dream of becoming prime minister.

He was in his element on the stump: joking with supporters as he peppered his speech with Quranic verses and Malay folklore to condemn his rivals and burnish his leadership credentials.

"I'm optimistic," Anwar told Reuters late on Friday after a packed day of campaigning at his constituency Tambun in west Malaysia, referring to his coalition's chances of victory and changing the political landscape in multi-ethnic, Muslim-majority Malaysia.

"We are here to emphasize governance and anti-corruption, and rid this country of racism and religious bigotry," he said.

Anwar's alliance faces two other coalitions in the election - one led by incumbent Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the other by former premier Muhyiddin Yassin. There are several other parties in the running, including one founded by another former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, a factor that is expected to split the votes more than ever before.

Opinion polls predict a tight race with no single party or coalition being able to win a simple majority needed to form the government.

Anwar has support from the ethnic-Chinese and Indian minorities, who form a third of the electorate, and from voters in urban areas. In Tambun town, he attracted hundreds at a campaign stop, with crowds spilling onto the road and the driver of a passing ambulance flashing Anwar a thumbs-up sign.

But he lacks widespread appeal among majority Malays due to his opposition to affirmative action favouring them and past allegations of sodomy, a crime in Malaysia. Anwar has spent around a decade in jail on sodomy and corruption charges.

A survey by independent pollster Merdeka Center showed that Anwar lags behind his two rivals in popularity by 8 to 12 percentage points despite a recent uptick.

However, his multi-ethnic coalition was the most favoured by voters at 26%, although nearly 31% were yet to decide who to vote for, Merdeka said. Ismail's Barisan Nasional coalition came in second at 24%.

NO ALLIANCE

Anwar said he will not work with Ismail's or Muhyiddin's coalitions due to "fundamental differences", despite polls saying that alliances would be necessary to form the next government.

"Any form of coalition will be a major setback because you are having a coalition with essentially racist or Muslim fanatics," said Anwar. He also ruled out working with friend-turned-foe Mahathir.

Barisan is led by a Malay nationalist party. Muhyiddin's coalition also prioritises ethnic Malay interests and includes an Islamist party that has touted shariah law.

Anwar, who was deputy to Mahathir when he was prime minister in his first term, came close to the premiership after the opposition defeated Barisan for the first time in Malaysia's history in the 2018 election. His party had joined hands with Mahathir amid widespread anger against the government over the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB corruption scandal.

Anwar was in prison during the 2018 election on what he says were politically-motivated sodomy charges, and later pardoned.

Mahathir became prime minister and promised to hand over power to Anwar in two years. Anwar's wife took over as deputy prime minister, but the coalition collapsed in 22 months due to infighting over the transition.

Muhyiddin briefly became prime minister but Barisan came back to power in 2021 with Ismail at the helm as part of another alliance.

Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow with Singapore's Institute of International Affairs, said Anwar was not likely to get enough Malay support to reach the finish line.

"More of the rural Malay voters will flow back to (Barisan) in particular and Malay parties in general," he said.

Anwar is also facing pressure from some in his own coalition to step down and make way for new leadership after over two decades at the helm.

Asked if this election would be his last, Anwar said he knew his limits.

"Whether I am considered relevant or not in the next few years, that's for the people to decide," he said. (Reuters)

A British minister will visit Taiwan this week for trade talks and meet President Tsai Ing-wen, his office said on Monday, drawing an angry reaction from Beijing to the latest high-level engagement between a Western government and the island.

China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory and strongly objects to any official interactions between Taipei and foreign governments, believing it is a show of support for Taiwan's separateness from China.

Britain's Department for International Trade said Greg Hands, minister of state for trade and also a member of parliament, would meet Tsai and co-host the 25th annual UK-Taiwan Trade Talks during his two-day visit.

"Visiting Taiwan in person is a clear signal of the UK's commitment to boosting UK-Taiwan trade ties. Like the UK, Taiwan is a champion of free and fair trade underpinned by a rules-based global trading system," his office said in a statement.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China resolutely opposed any form of official exchanges between a country with whom it has diplomatic ties and Taiwan.

"We urge the British side to stop any form of official exchanges with Taiwan and stop sending wrong signals to separatist forces for Taiwan independence," he said.

Hands will also meet Taiwan's top trade negotiator John Deng and Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua, his office added.

Taiwan's Economy Ministry declined to comment, saying that the meetings it was arranging were closed to the media.

Taiwan views Britain as a like-minded democratic partner and has been heartened by London's concerns over recent Chinese war games near the island and support for its participation in international organisations, most of which Taiwan are locked out of due to China's objections.

Britain, like Taiwan, is also bidding to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP. Members agreed in February that Britain can proceed with its application, as it looks for new trading relationships after leaving the European Union.

China has applied to join as well.

Britain has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but the two have close economic and informal relations and Britain maintains a de facto embassy in Taipei.

Western lawmakers and other officials have been stepping up their visits to Taiwan, despite Beijing's strong objections, which views the island as its own territory and bristles at anything which implies it is a separate country.

China staged war games near Taiwan in August following a visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (Reuters)

The United Arab Emirates will be a responsible supplier of oil and gas for as long as the world needs, its President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan said on Monday at the start of two weeks of climate talks in Egypt.

He added the Gulf nation, which is one of OPEC's biggest producers but has also invested in renewable energy, was focused on reducing the carbon impact of its fossil fuel output.

"The UAE is considered a responsible supplier of energy and it will continue playing this role for as long as the world is in need of oil and gas," he said.

"Oil and gas in the UAE is among the least carbon intensive around the world and we will continue to focus on lowering carbon emissions emanating from this sector."

Egypt's Conference of the Parties (COP) is the latest of decades of U.N. talks to try to curb climate change caused by the use of fossil fuels.

Next year's COP28 summit will be hosted by the UAE in Dubai's Expo City and will assess the implementation of the 2015 Paris climate agreement that seeks to limit to global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The UAE president said his country was among the first in the Gulf region to announce a plan for carbon neutrality by 2050 and last week signed a $100 billion agreement with the United States with the goal of adding 100 gigawatts of renewable energy globally by 2035. (Reuters)