Malaysia swears in motorcycle-riding sultan as new king

Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar arrives to take part in the oath taking ceremony as the 17th King of Malaysia at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur on Jan. 31, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 31 January 2024
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Malaysia swears in motorcycle-riding sultan as new king

  • Sultan Ibrahim and his family have been estimated to be worth at least $5.7bn
  • He leads an annual motor vehicle tour and commands his own private army

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia installed on Wednesday a billionaire motorcycle-riding sultan as the country’s newest king, a ceremonial role that is expected to gain more significance in governance during his term.

The Muslim-majority Southeast Asian nation is a constitutional monarchy with a unique system in which the king’s post rotates between the chiefs of its nine Islamic royal Malay houses every five years.

Dressed in dark blue ceremonial attire, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, the ruler of the country’s southern Johor state, took his oath of office as he ascended the throne as Malaysia’s 17th supreme monarch.

“With this oath, I solemnly and truly profess to be faithful, to rule fairly for Malaysia in accordance with the laws and constitution of the country,” the 65-year-old royal said at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur.

The ceremony was witnessed by the other Malay sultans, government officials and various dignitaries.

Sultan Ibrahim was elected by his fellow monarchs last year. Appointments to the role follow a rotation held since Malaysia’s independence from British colonial rule in 1957.

He replaces Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah of the central state of Pahang — whose reign ended Tuesday — as the nation’s new Yang di-Pertuan Agong or “He Who is Made Lord.”

Thousands of people lined the streets in the state capital of Johor Bahru early Wednesday morning to see off their sultan as he traveled from his palace in a royal entourage toward the city’s airport.

On arrival in Kuala Lumpur, he was greeted by members of Malaysia’s ruling elite and officials as he inspected a guard of honor before taking his oath.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim welcomed Sultan Ibrahim and his Queen Raja Zarith Sofiah in their new stations.

“The people and I will continue pledging unwavering obedience and loyalty to His Majesty,” he said in a Facebook post.

“We pray His Majesty and the entire Royal Institution will be showered with blessings and always be in good health, wellness and sovereignty.”

A powerful and influential figure, Sultan Ibrahim presides over the country’s southernmost peninsular state, which borders Singapore by a causeway.

Holding significant business interests, he and his family have been estimated to be worth at least $5.7 billion, with shares in major Malaysian firms as well as land in Singapore.

A motorcycle enthusiast, he leads an annual motor vehicle tour of the state and also commands his own private army, the only state allowed to do so.

Malaysia’s kings serve as the official head of Islam in the country and commander-in-chief of its armed forces.

While they hold only ceremonial power, they can appoint a lawmaker who has a parliamentary majority as the country’s premier and exercise certain discretionary powers during a national crisis.

A fiercely outspoken royal, Sultan Ibrahim vowed in a December interview with Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper not to be a “puppet king.”

He said at the time: “There are 222 of you (lawmakers) in Parliament. There are over 30 million (Malaysians) outside. I’m not with you, I’m with them.

“I will support the government, but if I think they are doing something improper, I will tell them.”

BowerGroupAsia director Arinah Najwa Ahmad Said told Arab News she expected to see a politically stable administration in the near future, with Sultan Ibrahim exercising a more “hands-on leadership.”

She said: “He would be more hands-on in governance. How hands-on it will be remains to be seen, but there would be a lot more oversight on things.

“He will be a bit more vocal on certain issues and he will try to command a certain kind of order at least.”

She added that Sultan Ibrahim was also expected to focus on more socio-economic development especially in the state of Johor, given its border with wealthy neighbor Singapore.

Malaysia’s royalty has a lineage that dates back to the 15th century, and it commands great respect from the country’s population of 33 million, especially from the Muslim ethnic Malay majority.


Indian man awakes on funeral pyre

Updated 5 sec ago
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Indian man awakes on funeral pyre

  • Doctors sent Rohitash Kumar, 25, to mortuary instead of doing postmortem after he fell ill
  • Kumar was rushed to hospital on Friday for treatment but was confirmed dead later

JAIPUR: An Indian man awoke on a funeral pyre moments before it was to be set on fire after a doctor skipped a postmortem, medical officials said Saturday.
Rohitash Kumar, 25, who had speaking and hearing difficulties, had fallen sick and was taken to a hospital in Jhunjhunu in the western state of Rajasthan on Thursday.
Indian media reported he had had an epileptic seizure, and a doctor declared him dead on arrival at the hospital.
But instead of the required postmortem to ascertain the cause of death, doctors sent him to the mortuary, and then to be burned according to Hindu rites.
D. Singh, chief medical officer of the hospital, told AFP that a doctor had “prepared the postmortem report without actually doing the postmortem, and the body was then sent for cremation.”
Singh said that “shortly before the pyre was to be lit, Rohitash’s body started movements,” adding that “he was alive and was breathing.”
Kumar was rushed to hospital for a second time, but was confirmed dead on Friday during treatment.
Authorities have suspended the services of three doctors and the police have launched an investigation.


NATO chief discusses ‘global security’ with Trump

Updated 6 min 19 sec ago
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NATO chief discusses ‘global security’ with Trump

  • NATO allies say keeping Kyiv in the fight against Moscow is key to both European and American security

Brussels: NATO chief Mark Rutte held talks with US President-elect Donald Trump in Florida on the “global security issues facing the alliance,” a spokeswoman said Saturday.
The meeting took place on Friday in Palm Beach, NATO’s Farah Dakhlallah said in a statement.
In his first term Trump aggressively pushed Europe to step up defense spending and questioned the fairness of the NATO transatlantic alliance.
The former Dutch prime minister had said he wanted to meet Trump two days after Trump was elected on November 5, and discuss the threat of increasingly warming ties between North Korea and Russia.
Trump’s thumping victory to return to the US presidency has set nerves jangling in Europe that he could pull the plug on vital Washington military aid for Ukraine.
NATO allies say keeping Kyiv in the fight against Moscow is key to both European and American security.
“What we see more and more is that North Korea, Iran, China and of course Russia are working together, working together against Ukraine,” Rutte said recently at a European leaders’ meeting in Budapest.
“At the same time, Russia has to pay for this, and one of the things they are doing is delivering technology to North Korea,” which he warned was threatening to the “mainland of the US (and) continental Europe.”
“I look forward to sitting down with Donald Trump to discuss how we can face these threats collectively,” Rutte said.


Indian man awakes on funeral pyre

Updated 18 min 25 sec ago
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Indian man awakes on funeral pyre

JAIPUR, India: An Indian man awoke on a funeral pyre moments before it was to be set on fire after a doctor skipped a postmortem, medical officials said Saturday.
Rohitash Kumar, 25, who had speaking and hearing difficulties, had fallen sick and was taken to a hospital in Jhunjhunu in the western state of Rajasthan on Thursday.
Indian media reported he had had an epileptic seizure, and a doctor declared him dead on arrival at the hospital.
But instead of the required postmortem to ascertain the cause of death, doctors sent him to the mortuary, and then to be burned according to Hindu rites.
D. Singh, chief medical officer of the hospital, told AFP that a doctor had “prepared the postmortem report without actually doing the postmortem, and the body was then sent for cremation.”
Singh said that “shortly before the pyre was to be lit, Rohitash’s body started movements,” adding that “he was alive and was breathing.”
Kumar was rushed to hospital for a second time, but was confirmed dead on Friday during treatment.
Authorities have suspended the services of three doctors and the police have launched an investigation.


Fighting between armed sectarian groups in restive northwestern Pakistan kills at least 33 people

Updated 37 min 49 sec ago
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Fighting between armed sectarian groups in restive northwestern Pakistan kills at least 33 people

  • Senior police officer said Saturday armed men torched shops, houses and government property overnight
  • Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions remain, especially in Kurram

PESHAWAR: Fighting between armed Sunni and Shiite groups in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 33 people and injured 25 others, a senior police officer from the region said Saturday.
The overnight violence was the latest to rock Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and comes days after a deadly gun ambush killed 42 people.
Shiite Muslims make up about 15 percent of the 240 million people in Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of sectarian animosity between the communities.
Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions remain, especially in Kurram.
The senior police officer said armed men in Bagan and Bacha Kot torched shops, houses and government property.
Intense gunfire was ongoing between the Alizai and Bagan tribes in the Lower Kurram area.
“Educational institutions in Kurram are closed due to the severe tension. Both sides are targeting each other with heavy and automatic weapons,” said the officer, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Videos shared with The Associated Press showed a market engulfed by fire and orange flames piercing the night sky. Gunfire can also be heard.
The location of Thursday’s attack was also targeted by armed men, who marched on the area.
Survivors of the gun ambush said assailants emerged from a vehicle and sprayed buses and cars with bullets. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack and police have not identified a motive.
Dozens of people from the district’s Sunni and Shiite communities have been killed since July, when a land dispute erupted in Kurram that later turned into general sectarian violence.


Key UN committee adopts resolution paving the way for a first-ever treaty on crimes against humanity

Updated 23 November 2024
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Key UN committee adopts resolution paving the way for a first-ever treaty on crimes against humanity

  • The International Criminal Court was established to punish major perpetrators of war crimes
  • ICC has 124 countries that are parties to it

UNITED NATIONS: A key UN General Assembly committee adopted a resolution late Friday paving the way for negotiations on a first-ever treaty on preventing and punishing crimes against humanity after Russia dropped amendments that would have derailed the effort.
The resolution was approved by consensus by the assembly’s legal committee, which includes all 193-member UN nations, after tense last-minute negotiations between its supporters and Russia that dragged through the day.
There was loud applause when the chairman of the committee gaveled the resolution’s approval. It is virtually certain to be adopted when the General Assembly puts it to a final vote on Dec. 4.
“Today’s agreement to start up negotiations on a much-needed international treaty is a historic achievement that was a long time coming,” Richard Dicker, Human Rights Watch’s senior legal adviser for advocacy, told The Associated Press.
“It sends a crucial message that impunity for the kinds of crimes inflicted on civilians in Ethiopia, Sudan, Ukraine, southern Israel, Gaza and Myanmar will not go unheeded,” he said.
The resolution calls for a time-bound process with preparatory sessions in 2026 and 2027, and three-week negotiating sessions in 2028 and 2029 to finalize a treaty on crimes against humanity.
Dicker said Russia’s proposed amendments left in question whether treaty negotiations would have been completed.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Maria Zabolotskaya said Russia withdrew the amendments “in a spirit of compromise.” But she said Russia “dissociates itself from consensus.”
“This, of course, does not mean that we are not ready to work on this crucial convention,” Zabolotskaya told the committee.
The International Criminal Court was established to punish major perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide and it has 124 countries that are parties to it. The ICC says crimes against humanity are committed as part of a large-scale attack on civilians and it lists 15 forms including murder, rape, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, sexual slavery, torture and deportation.
But the ICC does not have jurisdiction over nearly 70 other countries.
There are global treaties that cover war crimes, genocide and torture — but there has been no specific treaty addressing crimes against humanity. And according to sponsors of the resolution, led by Mexico and Gambia and backed by 96 other countries, a new treaty will fill the gap.
Kelly Adams, legal adviser at the Global Justice Center, also called the resolution “a historic breakthrough” after many delays.
Pointing to “the proliferation of crimes against humanity around the world,” she expressed hope that a treaty will be “strong, progressive and survivor-centric.”
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard expressed disappointment that the timeline had been extended until 2029, but said, “What’s important is that this process will deliver a viable convention.”
“It is long overdue and all the more welcome at a time when too many states are intent on wrecking international law and universal standards,” she said. “It is a clear sign that states are ready to reinforce the international justice framework and clamp down on safe havens from investigation and prosecution for perpetrators of these heinous crimes.”
After the resolution’s adoption, Gambia’s Counselor Amadou Jaiteh, who had introduced it hours earlier, called its approval “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a difference,” to hope for a world without crimes against humanity, “and a world where voices of victims are heard louder than their perpetrators.”