MALAYSIA
Police arrest 15 linked to IS
Authorities have arrested 15 people, mostly foreigners from Indonesia, on suspicion of having links with the Islamic State (IS) group, police said yesterday. The suspects were arrested in several raids across the country between July and this month, police counterterrorism head Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said in a statement. The first case involved a 25-year-old Indonesian palm plantation worker in Sabah state, who police believe had acted as a facilitator for a family of five that carried out a suicide attack on a church in Jolo, in the southern Philippines, in December last year. Ayob said that the suspect had also allegedly channeled funds to the Maute group, which seized control of the lakeside town of Marawi in the Philippines for five months in 2017, a conflict that killed more than 1,100 people.
SINGAPORE
Facebook tightens ad rules
Social media giant Facebook yesterday said that it had implemented new rules for political advertisements in the city-state ahead of an election expected within months. The new rules require those who want to run ads about social issues, elections or politics to confirm their identity and location, and disclose who is responsible for the advertisement. Facebook also requires “Paid for by” disclaimers in advertisements, which are to be stored in a searchable online library for seven years. Under pressure from authorities worldwide, Facebook last year started introducing several similar initiatives in various countries, including the US and India, to increase oversight of political ads.
UNITED STATES
Man returns from China jail
As the word dropped from Wendell Brown’s lips, the former college football player and Detroit, Michigan, native appeared to try to relish its taste for just a moment more: “Freedom.” After three years in a Chinese prison for allegedly assaulting a man during a bar fight, Brown on Wednesday returned home to the hugs and smiling faces of his loved ones. Outside of his family’s house on Detroit’s east side, he took a few moments to reflect on regaining his freedom. “We don’t really understand that word to its fullest extent until [we’re] without it,” Brown said. Brown was teaching English and coaching football in southwestern China when he was arrested in September 2016 and charged with intentional assault. He denied hitting the man and said that he was defending himself after being attacked. Witnesses said that Brown was being harassed by other patrons. Brown was the only person prosecuted. He was sentenced to four years in prison, but a court later reduced it to three years.
UNITED STATES
Cop takes plea in toilet case
A former Honolulu police officer on Wednesday pleaded guilty to failing to report that another officer forced a homeless man to lick a public urinal. Reginald Ramones is one of two officers arrested and charged with depriving the man of his civil rights. As part of a plea agreement, Ramones pleaded guilty to a lesser charge that he knew a fellow officer committed a civil rights breach and did not inform authorities. Police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said that Ramones left the department last month. The second officer charged in the case, John Rabago, remains on restricted duty. He has pleaded not guilty. The plea agreement said that Rabago told the man he could avoid arrest by licking the urinal. The man reluctantly did. Ramones said that Rabago convinced him not to report it.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
Pakistani police yesterday said a father shot dead his daughter after she refused to delete her TikTok account. In the Muslim-majority country, women can be subjected to violence by family members for not following strict rules on how to behave in public, including in online spaces. “The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her,” a police spokesperson said. Investigators said the father killed his 16-year-old daughter on Tuesday “for honor,” the police report said. The man was subsequently arrested. The girl’s family initially tried to “portray the murder as a suicide” said police in
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
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