Mahathir Mohamad

Malaysia's Anwar quizzed over sex assault claims

Malaysia's leader-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim was Thursday questioned by police over allegations he sexually assaulted a male former aide, the latest such scandal to hit the veteran politician's career.Anwar said he was quizzed at national police headquarters over the claims by Muhammed Yusoff Rawther, which he has vehemently denied.The lawmaker, seen as the likely successor to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, spent almost a decade in jail after being convicted of sodomising a young ma

13 December 2019
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Malaysia, India palm oil tensions over Kashmir

Malaysia's mammoth palm oil sector faces a new threat after Indian traders were asked to halt purchases amid a diplomatic row over Kashmir, piling further pressure on the industry as Europe also plans cutbacks.The Southeast Asian nation is the second-biggest producer after Indonesia of the oil, used in everything from food to cosmetics, in a sector long vilified by environmentalists who blame it for fuelling deforestation.With Western companies reducing use of the commodity as green grou

28 October 2019
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Malaysia’s PM calls for sanctions law at UN

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday urged greater international control of sanctions, criticizing United States (US) attempts to force all countries to stop doing business with Iran."We do not know under what laws sanctions are applied.

29 September 2019
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Malaysia ex-PM Najib's biggest 1MDB trial begins

Malaysian ex-leader Najib Razak's most significant 1MDB trial begins Wednesday, centring on allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars linked to the state fund ended up in his bank account.Claims that Najib and his cronies pilfered massive sums from the fund and spent it on everything from real estate to artwork contributed to the defeat of his long-ruling coalition to a reformist alliance.After losing power last year, Najib was arrested and hit with dozens of charges related to 1M

28 August 2019
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Malaysia lowers its voting age to 18

Malaysia's parliament Tuesday backed lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, a change that would add millions of people to the electoral roll and was pushed by the country's reformist government.The Southeast Asian nation is one of a handful of countries around the world that limits voting to those aged over 21, and the change still has to be debated and passed in the country's senate before it can become law.The overhaul was championed by the government of Prime Minister Mahath

17 July 2019
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What do Malaysians want?

During the recently concluded 34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, Malaysian leaders made some strong comments on the Rohingya crisis. Last Saturday with his Southeast Asian counterparts, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah called for the “perpetrators of the Rohingya issue to be brought to justice.” This was revealed by his ministry on Twitter.Not long after, it was also reported that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had also asked for International monitoring bodies to

29 June 2019
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Malaysia’s PM vows to help Rohingya

Malaysia's prime minister on Friday vowed to help Rohingya Muslims seeking refuge in Malaysia, reiterating the call for Southeast Asian leaders to "stop the oppression" of the stateless minority group expelled from Myanmar. Last year Mahathir Mohamad castigated Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) meet in Singapore for defending the military's crackdown on the Rohingya. His direct condemn

22 June 2019
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Where are Amri and Koh?

“It started in 1998. It peaked 10 years later in 2008. And it has not stopped changing. Changes are still ongoing even as you read this. It is now unstoppable. The government can no longer turn back the tide.

25 May 2019
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Bandar Malaysia back online

The Malaysian government’s decision to revisit the US$34 billion Bandar Malaysia project earlier this month after a two-year stall is the latest infrastructure project to be renegotiated or revived with an eye on appeasing China.The newly-elected Alliance of Hope (Pakatan Harapan) ruling coalition embarked on a series of cost-cutting measures after coming to power last May, suspending a series of Chinese-financed projects as it sought to improve the government’s finances and reduce r

29 April 2019
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Malaysia is back on the BRI

Malaysia will revive a US$34 billion Chinese-backed transport and property development that was abandoned in 2017, the prime minister said Friday, adding the project would contribute to Beijing’s global infrastructure drive.The announcement came after the countries agreed this month to resume work on a previously suspended railway project in Malaysia, and is the latest sign of improving ties after a rocky period.The 140-billion-ringgit (US$34 billion) Bandar Malaysia development in Kuala Lump

20 April 2019
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Malaysia’s language dilemma

The teaching and learning of science and mathematics in English (PPSMI) was a government policy implemented in 2003. It was designed to help improve the command of the English language among students by implementing it in the teaching and learning of science and mathematics.

11 April 2019
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Malaysia PM says release of murder suspect lawful

Malaysia's prime minister said Tuesday the surprise release of an Indonesian woman who was on trial for assassinating the North Korean leader's half-brother followed the "rule of law", after suspicions of meddling amid an intense lobbying effort by Jakarta.Siti Aisyah was freed by a Malaysian court Monday after prosecutors withdrew a murder charge without any explanation, more than two years after her arrest for the 2017 killing of Kim Jong Nam at a Kuala Lumpur airport.He

13 March 2019
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