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December
Militants seize counter-terrorism centre in Pakistan, take hostages
Written by Nur YasminIslamist militants seized a counter-terrorism centre in the northwestern Pakistani area of Bannu on Sunday and took hostages to negotiate with government authorities, officials said.
"It's not clear if the terrorists attacked from outside, or if they snatched the ammunition from staff inside" while being interrogated following their arrest, Bannu police spokesman Muhammad Naseeb told Reuters.
He said the compound had been surrounded by security forces. (Reuters)
December
Nepal president gives parties a week to form new government
Written by Nur Yasmin
Nepal's president on Sunday called on the country's political parties to try to form the new government within a week after last month's inconclusive national election.
The ruling alliance, led by the Nepali Congress party of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, and the main opposition Nepal Communist Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) party need the support of smaller groups to form a new government.
Nepal, a country of 30 million people that is squeezed between China and India, has seen ten government changes since the abolition of 239-year-old monarchy in 2008.
The political instability has hit economic growth and spooked investors.
The ruling alliance secured 136 seats in the election, two less than the required majority of 138 in the 275-member House of Representatives. The UML and its allies won 92 seats.
A statement from President Bidhya Devi Bhandari's office said: "Any member of the House of Representatives, who can command the majority with the support of two or more parties" should stake a claim for being appointed as prime minister by 5 p.m. (11.15 a.m. GMT) on Dec. 25.
"We will discuss within the (ruling) alliance and with other political parties about the formation of the new government under our leadership," Nepali Congress party spokesman Prakash Sharan Mahat told Reuters.
He said Deuba, 76, was a front-runner to be appointed prime minister for the sixth time. (Reuters)
December
Majority of Japanese oppose raising taxes to fund military expansion, Kyodo reports
Written by Nur Yasmin
The majority of Japanese people do not support raising taxes to fund military expansion, Kyodo reported on Sunday, citing a survey the news agency conducted after the government announced Japan's biggest military build-up since World War Two.
Japan on Friday announced a $320 billion military spending plan to buy missiles capable of striking China and to ready the country for any sustained conflict, as missile tests by nearby North Korea, China's claim over Taiwan and the invasion of Ukraine by Japan's western neighbour Russia stoke fear of war.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida this month said his government would not hike taxes for the next fiscal year beginning April 1 but would raise them in stages toward fiscal 2027 to secure funding to boost the defence budget.
He said Japan was at a "turning point in history" and that military expansion through cost-cutting and tax hikes was "my answer to the various security challenges that we face".
Almost 65% of respondents in Kyodo's survey opposed raising taxes for military spending, while 87% said Kishida's explanation of the need to raise tax was insufficient.
The survey also showed support for Kishida's administration was unchanged from a month earlier at 33.1%, the worst since it was launched in October last year.
The government's five-year tax plan, once unthinkable in pacifist Japan, would make the country the world's third-biggest military spender after the United States and China, based on current budgets. (Reuters)
December
Erdogan says courts will fix any mistakes after Istanbul mayor's sentencing
Written by Nur Yasmin
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the courts would correct any mistakes in an appeal process after the jailing of Istanbul's opposition mayor, and in the meantime Turks had no right to ignore legal rulings.
In his first direct comments on Wednesday's conviction of Ekrem Imamoglu - a potential challenger to Erdogan who was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison and handed a political ban - Erdogan said he did not care who is the opposition candidate in next year's elections.
Imamoglu was prosecuted for insulting public officials in 2019, when he criticised a decision to cancel the first round of municipal elections that he won against the 25-year incumbent government of Erdogan's AK Party.
"There's still no final court decision yet. The case will go to the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation," Erdogan said. "If the courts have made a mistake, it will be corrected. They're trying to pull us into this game."
Imamoglu's conviction has rallied the opposition bloc around what it sees as a fight for democracy, the rule of law and justice. Thousands have gathered at rallies led by Imamoglu, who has said he plans to appeal his conviction.
"There have been many court rulings that we have harshly criticised ourselves, but that doesn't give anyone the right to insult judges or to ignore court rulings," Erdogan told a rally at Mardin in Turkey's southeast.
Critics say Turkey's judiciary has been bent to Erdogan's will to punish his critics. The government says they are independent. (reuters)
December
Putin sounds out military commanders on Ukraine
Written by Nur Yasmin
President Vladimir Putin has sought proposals from his armed forces commanders on how they think Russia's military campaign in Ukraine should proceed, during a visit to the operation's headquarters, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
A series of defeats in 10 months of fighting, resulting in Russian withdrawals from areas around the capital Kyiv and Ukraine's second city Kharkiv and most recently from the city of Kherson, have forced Putin to call up reservists and generated rare public criticism from military bloggers and some allies.
Since the appointment in October of Air Force General Sergei Surovikin to lead the campaign, Russian ground forces have focused more on defence than attack, while waves of air strikes on cities have left millions of Ukrainian civilians without heat, light or water for days on end as winter sets in.
In video footage released by the Kremlin on Saturday, Putin presided at a meeting of around a dozen people at a circular table, flanked by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov - both of whom have been heavily criticised by hawkish commentators.
Putin was then shown at the head of another conference table at the joint task force headquarters, inviting suggestions from a row of military commanders.
"We will listen to the commanders in each operational direction, and I would like to hear your proposals on our immediate and medium-term actions," Putin said.
Surovikin was also shown attending the meetings in still photographs on the Kremlin website.
Putin spent the whole of Friday at the task force headquarters, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax news agency.
No other details of Putin's visit or the location of the headquarters were reported. (Reuters)
December
Malaysia PM signs cooperation pact with smaller parties ahead of confidence vote
Written by Nur Yasmin
Malaysian political parties supporting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday signed a cooperation pact promising to ensure stability, ahead of a confidence vote on the premier next week.
Anwar - who has spent more than two decades as an opposition figure - became prime minister last month, forming a government with rival political blocs after an election that produced a hung parliament.
He has promised to convene parliament on Monday for a confidence vote to prove his lower house majority, after rival and former premier Muhyiddin Yassin cast doubt on his support.
Anwar is Malaysia's fourth prime minister since 2020, after two previous administrations collapsed due to political turmoil. Malaysia this year passed laws to prevent future party defections, but the new rules do not stop political coalitions from switching allegiances as a bloc.
According to Anwar and other coalition leaders, the parties agreed to ensure political stability after years of turmoil, spurring the economy, good governance, and upholding the rights of the country's majority Malay community and Islam as its official religion.
"We agreed on the broad parameters and broad policies including to ensure the government is stable," he said after a ceremony where political party chiefs signed the pact.
"We concede that no party managed to have a clear majority, therefore... it makes a lot of sense that we have to achieve this sort of understanding based on shared principles and policies."
They promised to improve development in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak in Borneo island. Support from Borneo-based blocs is crucial for Anwar to maintain his majority.
His government also includes the previous ruling coalition Barisan Nasional, which he spent much of his political career seeking to overthrow.
Barisan had ruled Malaysia for more than six decades before being voted out in a 2018 election amid widespread corruption allegations.
It returned to power last year, but was ousted again in last month's polls - coming in third to Anwar's and Muhyiddin's coalitions. (Reuters)
December
South Korea protests Japan's island claim in national security strategy
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea issued a strong protest against Japan's territorial claim over disputed islands made in a national security strategy released on Friday while cautiously responding to Tokyo's plans for an unprecedented military buildup.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol who took office in May has tried to improve ties with Tokyo which have been marred by the territorial row over the islands and historic disputes stemming from Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of Korea.
South Korea's foreign ministry on Friday demanded an immediate removal of the territorial claims from Japan's national strategy documents, saying in a statement that the move did nothing to help "building a future-oriented relationship" between the two countries.
The foreign ministry later said it summoned a senior diplomat from Japan's embassy in Seoul to lodge the protest. The defence ministry separately said it summoned a Japanese defence official to protest the claim.
The islands known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan are controlled by Seoul with a small contingent of coast guards.
In a separate statement, the foreign ministry said it hoped the implementation of Japan's new security policy will be transparent and contribute to regional peace and stability while continuing to uphold the spirit of is pacifist constitution.
Any exercise of attack capabilities against the Korean peninsula "must necessarily involve close consultations and agreement" with South Korea, it said, in an apparent reference to possible action to counter North Korea's aggression.
President Yoon, who has made it a key national security priority to improve cooperation with Japan, told Reuters in an interview in November it was understandable for Japan to boost its defence spending given the growing threat from North Korea's ballistic missile programme. (Reuters)
December
Fiji military says will not intervene over election after opposition complaint
Written by Nur Yasmin
Fiji's military chief said on Friday his forces will not intervene over a national election that took place on Wednesday, after opposition leaders wrote to him raising concerns over vote-counting.
International election observers said on Friday they had not seen any significant voting irregularities, adding that an initial anomaly with the app presenting results had been rectified.
The Pacific island nation, with a population of 900,000, had a history of military coups before constitutional reform in 2013 to remove a race-based voting system that favoured indigenous Fijians over a large Indian ethnic group.
A result is expected on Sunday in a tight race between two former coup leaders, after the Fiji Elections Office conducts a final count of paper ballots.
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama's Fiji First party was narrowly leading the final count with 38.72% of votes, ahead of Opposition leader Sitiveni Rabuka's People's Alliance party on 38.45%, at 10 p.m. on Friday, with returns from 560 of 2,071 polling stations counted.
Rabuka was taken in for questioning by police on Friday evening and later released, the People's Alliance party said in a statement.
He was shown on television leaving the Criminal Investigation Division headquarters in Suva, telling reporters he hadn't been charged.
On Thursday, Rabuka's People's Alliance had written to Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Ro Jone Kalouniwai expressing concerns over the election process.
Kalouniwai told TV station FBC news on Friday that the military would put its trust in the electoral process and not get involved.
"I wish to reassure the people of Fiji that the RFMF (armed forces) will not respond to Rabuka's insistence or any political party, that we intervene," Kalouniwai said in a separate interview with broadcaster RNZ Pacific.
The co-chair of a Multinational Observer Group, Australian politician Rebekha Sharkie, told reporters in Suva on Friday that counting was proceeding "in a systematic, methodical and transparent manner".
Technical problems had plagued the election office's app, used by the public to track provisional results on Wednesday evening, fuelling mistrust among opposition parties.
The app had shown a People's Alliance Party candidate leading, before it was taken offline late on Wednesday. When it went back online it showed Fiji First ahead.
The election office said mistakes had been made transferring data to the app, and it was not used to count votes.
People's Alliance and four other opposition parties on Friday launched a petition calling for an independent audit and a recount, after saying they had no confidence in the election process.
Sharkie said the election office had immediately informed the Multinational Observer Group on Wednesday evening of the anomaly with the results app, and the issue was rectified.
"Updates on final results has been slower than anticipated, due to additional quality control processes," she added. (Reuters)
December
U.N. shelves bid by Afghan Taliban, Myanmar junta for representation
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United Nations General Assembly on Friday approved postponing - for the second time - a decision on whether the Afghan Taliban administration and the Myanmar junta can send a United Nations ambassador to New York.
The 193-member General Assembly approved without a vote the decision by the U.N. credentials committee, which also deferred a decision on rival claims to Libya's U.N. seat. The nine-member committee includes Russia, China and the United States.
The postponement of decisions on Myanmar, Afghanistan and Libya leaves the current envoys in place. But the credentials committee said it could "revert to consideration of these credentials at a future time in the seventy-seventh session" of the General Assembly, which ends in September next year.
Competing claims were again made for the seats of Myanmar and Afghanistan with the Taliban administration and Myanmar's junta pitted against envoys of the governments they ousted last year. U.N. acceptance of the Taliban administration or Myanmar's junta would be a step toward the international recognition sought by both.
A rival claim was also made this year for Libya's U.N. seat - currently held by the Government of National Unity in Tripoli - by a "Government of National Stability" led by Fathi Bashagha and backed by a parliament in the country's east.
The Taliban seized power in mid-August last year from the internationally recognized government. When the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, the ambassador of the government they toppled remained the U.N. envoy after the credentials committee deferred its decision on the seat.
Myanmar's junta seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February last year. (reuters)
December
Death toll from Malaysia campsite landslide rises to 24, nine missing
Written by Nur Yasmin
Rescue teams searching for survivors from a landslide that tore though a campsite in Malaysia recovered the bodies of a woman and two children on Saturday, officials said, raising the death toll to 24.
The landslide in Batang Kali, a popular hilly area about 50 km (30 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur, flattened the unlicensed campsite early on Friday while people slept in their tents. Those killed included seven children.
Of the 94 people caught in the slide, 61 were safe and nine still missing, according to the Selangor state fire and rescue department.
State fire and rescue chief Norazam Khamis said chances of more survivors being found were slim, given the weight of mud pressing down on the site.
Search and rescue operations resumed for a second day earlier on Saturday, after a halt overnight due to heavy rains.
A total of 135 responders and seven rescue dogs resumed scouring through thick mud and downed trees around 8.30 a.m. (0030 GMT) with the assistance of excavators, Norazam told reporters.
An initial investigation showed an embankment of about 450,000 cubic metres of earth had collapsed. The earth fell from an estimated height of 30 metres (100 ft) and covered an area of about an acre (0.4 hectares).
Survivors are in stable condition and will also receive trauma counselling, said Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday the government would provide 10,000 ringgit ($2,260) in aid to families of every person killed , while survivors would receive 1,000 ringgit per household.
Following the disaster, the Forestry Department in several states ordered the closure of campsites and hiking and off-road trails considered as high risk.
Landslides are common in Malaysia, but typically only after heavy rains. Flooding occurs often, with about 21,000 people displaced last year by torrential rain in seven states. (Reuters)