15/04/2025

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Malaysian Paper

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WORLD LEADERS SLAM DEADLY RUSSIAN STRIKE SUMY: World leaders condemned a Russian missile strike on Ukraine on Sunday. Two ballistic missiles hit the centre of the northeastern city of Sumy killing at least 34 people and wounding more than 100 others. “I was told they made a mistake. But I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,” US President Trump told reporters on board Air Force One. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the attack “horrifying” and a “tragic reminder of why the administration is putting so much effort to end this war and achieve durable peace”. French President Emmanuel Macron said the strike showed “blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts”. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled”. German leader Friedrich Merz described it as “a serious war crime, deliberate and intended”. – AFP MALDIVES TO PHASE OUT SMOKING WITH TEEN BAN MALE: The Maldives will attempt to stamp out smoking across the South Asian luxury tourist archipelago this year with a ban making it illegal for anyone under 19 to buy cigarettes. A proposed law will prohibit the sale of tobacco products to individuals born after a January 2007 cut-off date, effectively phasing out smoking for future generations. “The new legislation is set to come into force on Nov 1,” President Mohamed Muizzu’s office said. Officials said they were working to amend tobacco control laws to bring them in line with the new legislation. A similar law has been proposed in Britain, while New Zealand – the first country to enact a generational law against smoking – repealed it in November 2023. The Maldives raised the legal age for smoking from 18 to 21 in November and banned the import of e-cigarettes and vaping devices, a policy that also applies to tourists. – AFP Last month, Israeli forces opened fire on ambulances in Gaza, killing 15 medics and rescuers. – AFP Sick child dies after disruption to medical services GAZA CITY: An Israeli air strike on Sunday hit one of Gaza’s few functioning hospitals, resulting in the death of a child according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as Israel warned it would expand its offensive if Hamas does not release hostages. Since the outbreak of war, tens of thousands of Gazans have sought refuge in hospitals, many of which have suffered severe damage in the ongoing hostilities. WHO reported that a child died due to disruption of care at the Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza after the strike. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas “command and control centre” at the hospital, a claim the group denied. Gaza’s civil defence agency said the strike came “minutes after the (Israeli) army’s warning to evacuate”. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said there was “no medical activity taking place” in the hospital building hit by a “precise strike”. Another airstrike on Sunday on a vehicle in the city of Deir el-Balah killed seven people including six brothers, the agency said. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz reiterated that the military would expand its offensive if Hamas “persists in its refusal” to free the remaining hostages. Qatar denounced the hospital strike as “a heinous crime”, as did Saudi Arabia. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Israel to halt the “deplorable attacks” on hospitals.

Far-right protesters rooting for Yoon outside the Seoul Central District Court on Monday. – REUTERSPIC

Martial law declaration not a coup, says Yoon o Ex-president had no legal grounds: Prosecutors

parliament, where lawmakers voted to reject martial law. The charge of masterminding insurrection faced by the impeached leader is punishable by life imprisonment or even death, although South Korea has not executed anyone in decades. Yoon’s martial law declaration on Dec 3 shocked South Koreans, and created chaos in all areas of society, the economy and foreign policy, the Constitutional Court said when ruling to remove him from office. The upheaval has further exposed deep social rifts between conservatives and liberals and increased pressure on institutions and the military, which had found itself in a quandary over whether to enforce martial law. The opposition Democratic Party slammed Yoon yesterday as delusional for not making any sincere apology. The country will now hold a snap election on June 3. Questions remain over whether Yoon might still play a role. Lee Jae-myung, the opposition leader who is leading presidential polls, visited a start-up that develops artificial intelligence chips, pledging to ease regulations with aggressive investments in the AI industry.

prosecutor before becoming president, defended himself in court, talking at length to refute the prosecution’s allegations. “Martial law is not a coup d’etat,” Yoon said. He denied paralysing the government and said martial law was needed to alert the people to how the majority opposition party was stonewalling government by impeaching more than 20 officials, which he saw as dangerous. “This was a peaceful ‘message martial law’ to the nation … I knew this martial law would end within half-a-day,” he said. Yoon said although he had communicated this intention to ex-defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, military officials carrying out the order seemed to have overstepped it because they were used to training for martial law under different guidelines. Two senior military officers took the witness stand in the afternoon. Both of them, including Cho Sung-hyun from the army’s capital defence command, testified that they were ordered by their superior officer to send troops to “drag” lawmakers out of parliament during Yoon’s martial law order. Yoon denied this allegation, saying he had not given such an order.

SEOUL: South Korea’s ousted leader Yoon Suk Yeol argued that his brief martial law declaration late last year was “not a coup d’etat” as he appeared in court yesterday for the start of a criminal trial over charges that he led an insurrection. The martial law attempt, which lasted about six hours before Yoon backed down in the face of parliamentary opposition and public protests, plunged the country into months of turmoil and led to the Constitutional Court removing him from the presidency this month for violating constitutional powers. After leaving his house in a motorcade yesterday, Yoon, who has denied all charges against him, entered the Seoul Central District Court wearing a dark navy suit and red tie. At the start of proceedings, prosecutors presented their case by arguing Yoon lacked the legal grounds to declare martial law and accused him of trying to paralyse state institutions such as parliament.

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“The defendant ... made it impossible for constitutional institutions to exercise their authority based on an unlawful declaration,” the prosecution said. Yoon, who was the country’s chief EU to boost financial support for Palestinian Authority The martial law declaration, which cited the need to root out “anti-state” elements, was lifted after parliamentary staffers used barricades and fire extinguishers to ward off special operations soldiers trying to enter Hong Joon-pyo, a former prosecutor who lost in the conservative party’s primary to Yoon for the previous presidential election, announced that he would run again for the president. – Reuters

BRUSSELS: The European Union will increase its financial support for the Palestinian Authority with a three-year package worth around €1.6 billion (RM8 billion), the European Commissioner responsible for the Middle East said in an interview. Dubravka Suica, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, said the financial support would go hand in hand with reforms of the Palestinian Authority, which has been accused by critics of corruption and bad governance. “We want them to reform themselves because without reforming, they won’t be

Israeli government has rejected the idea of handing over Gaza to the PA and shunned the EU’s broader aim of a two-state solution. Suica said €620 million would go to financial support and reform of the PA, €576 million to “resilience and recovery” of the West Bank and Gaza and €400 million would come in loans from the European Investment Bank, subject to the approval of its governing body. She said average EU support for the PA had amounted to about €400 million over the past 12 years. “We are investing in a credible manner in the Palestinian Authority,” Suica said. – Reuters

strong enough and credible to be an interlocutor, not only for us, but an interlocutor also for Israel,” Suica said. The commissioner’s remarks came ahead of a first “high-level political dialogue” between European Union foreign ministers and senior Palestinian officials including Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Luxembourg yesterday. The EU is the biggest donor to the Palestinians and EU officials hope the Palestinian Authority, which runs the West Bank, may also one day take responsibility for Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas comes to an end.