Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian court on Monday jailed a teenager for killing 23 people in a fire that he started at a religious boarding school in 2017, national news agency Bernama reported, in what was one of the worst such tragedies in two decades.

The defendant was 16 at the time of the fire bit.ly/3iOnqoV, which killed 21 teenage boys and two teachers in the capital Kuala Lumpur and sparked calls for tougher regulation over safety in privately-run schools.

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 10 (NNN-BERNAMA) — An Iranian escaped the gallows when his charge of trafficking in methamphetamine was changed to possession of drugs Monday, leading to him being sentenced to 20 years’ jail and 10 strokes of the rotan (caning).

A Court of Appeal three-member bench comprising Justices Yaacob Md Sam, P. Ravinthran and Nordin Hassan set aside Baladastian Hamid Mohammadebrahim’s conviction and death sentence for the first charge of trafficking in 1,146.9 grammes of methamphetamine.

The bench substituted Baladastian’s charge to one of possession.

PENANG, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s former finance minister pleaded not guilty Monday to a second corruption charge related to a $1.5 billion undersea tunnel project and slammed the case as a trumped-up charge by the new government.

Lim Guan Eng, 59, was first charged Friday with soliciting 10% of potential profits in 2011 as a bribe for the project planned in northern Penang state. On Monday, he was accused of abusing his power as Penang chief minister to obtain 3.3 million ringgit ($786,182) as inducement to help a local company secure the construction contract.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The 33rd US-ASEAN Dialogue held on Wednesday highlighted the broad range of cooperation across political-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars between the two sides while underscoring the importance of their Strategic Partnership in securing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

ALOR SETAR, Malaysia (AP) — A British woman accused of stabbing her husband to death at their Malaysian resort home entered court Monday for the start of a murder trial that could end with her sentenced to be hanged.

Wearing a mask and handcuffed, Samantha Jones, 51, was escorted by police into the courthouse in Alor Setar in the northern state of Kedah.

She was charged after police found a blood-stained kitchen knife in the couple’s home where John William Jones was found dead on Oct. 18, 2018.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Bernama) — There were “many problems” with former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s testimonies on the so-called Arab donation he received in his personal bank accounts, said High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian court pronounced former Prime Minister Najib Razak guilty Tuesday in his first corruption trial over the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB investment fund.

The ruling came five months after a new government took power with Najib’s Malay party the biggest bloc in the alliance. His party’s shocking election ouster in 2018 was driven by public anger over the 1MDB scandal.

“I find the accused guilty and convict the accused of all seven charges,” Judge Mohamad Nazlan Ghazali said after spending two hours to read out his ruling.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — After years of insisting on his innocence, former Malaysian leader Najib Razak learns his fate this week in his first corruption trial linked to one of the world’s biggest financial scandals — a verdict widely seen as a test for the rule of law five months after a new government took power.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian former prime minister Najib Razak, fighting dozens of charges over a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal at state fund 1MDB, faces his first verdict on Tuesday in a landmark case that tests the country’s efforts to stamp out corruption and could have big political implications.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 (NNN) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called upon the international community to reform multilateral institutions like the United Nations to make it more representative of the current world order.

“Today the fury of the pandemic (COVID-19) provides the context for its (UN’s) rebirth and reform. Let us not lose this chance,” he was quoted saying at the recently held United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) virtual meeting.