24/10/2025

FRIDAY | OCT 24, 2025

/thesuntelegram FOLLOW / Malaysian Paper

ON TELEGRAM m RAM

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US, Colombia trade threats over strikes on ‘drug boats’

I.C.E. SPENDING TENS OF MILLIONS ON WEAPONS

Massive strike in New Zealand for better pay WELLINGTON: More than 100,000 New Zealand teachers, nurses, doctors, firefighters and support staff walked off the job yesterday demanding more money and resources for the public sector in a sign of growing discontent with the country’s centre-right government. The unions in a joint statement last week billed the strike as the largest in decades. Middlemore Hospital emergency doctor and Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) vice-president Sylvia Boys told a crowd at Aotea Square in Auckland that the government had been elected on promises to reduce the cost of living while maintaining frontline services, and it was “fair to say these are the issues on which they are failing dismally”. “The cost of living has worsened, and in health and education, we have seen cuts across the sector. We are losing more talent than ever before,“ she said. The government has dismissed the protests as a union-orchestrated political stunt, even as the demonstrations highlight growing public unease over the administration’s direction. Recent opinion polls indicate that support for the ruling coalition has slipped, although the opposition has yet to open a clear lead. Since coming to power in 2023, the conservative government has reduced new public spending as it tries to return the government’s accounts to surplus. It has said the cuts would be in back office operations, keep interest rates low and ensure New Zealand continues to be seen as a good place to invest. However, the economy has struggled, contracting in three of the last five quarters, and historically high numbers of New Zealanders are leaving the country. While inflation is off its peak, it has ticked higher in the past couple of quarters. Public Service Minister Judith Collins said on Wednesday the proposed strike was unfair, unproductive and unnecessary. However, the government said it is ready to negotiate. – Reuters WASHINGTON RECORDS MOST MEASLES CASES SINCE 1992 LOS ANGELES: The United States has registered 1,618 measles cases with three deaths this year, the highest number since 1992, Xinhua reported, quoting official data released on Wednesday. Of the confirmed cases this year, 198 cases have required hospitalisation, including 95 children under the age of five. According to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 92% of cases occurred among people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. Public health experts said the figures underscore the importance of vaccination coverage. – Bernama-Xinhua NEW YORK: The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency is spending tens of millions of dollars on guns, ammunition, body armour and surveillance technology, according to procurement records reviewed by AFP. Data gleaned from federal contracts show an agency that critics say is transforming itself into a paramilitary force, aided by a budget that equals or surpasses the military spending of many smaller nations. Since Trump took office on Jan 20, ICE has placed more than US$70 million (RM296 million) of purchase orders in the “small arms, ordnance and ordnance accessories manufacturing” category. By contrast, from Jan 20 to Oct 20, 2024, it spent US$9.7 million on small arms and accessories. Although other government departments are operating at reduced capacity during the government shutdown, ICE and the Homeland Security Department have been mostly unaffected. – AFP

BR I E F S

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro traded threats on Wednesday as the United States announced strikes on two alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Pacific Ocean that left five people dead. Trump branded Petro a “thug” and suggested that he was a drug trafficker leading his country to ruin, prompting the leftist leader to say: “I will defend myself legally with American lawyers.” Trump also said vital military aid to Bogota has been cut and warned Petro to “watch it”, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Colombian leader a “lunatic”. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced two strikes on boats in the Pacific, one on Wednesday and another the day before, in social media posts showing the vessels being engulfed in flames. o Summary killings illegal even if Washington targets confirmed traffickers, say experts The 76-year-old monarch, who is supreme governor of the Church of England, arrived in Rome on Wednesday with his wife Queen Camilla for what Buckingham Palace described as a “historic” state visit. It was his first meeting with Leo since the US-born pope took over as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics in May, following the death of Pope Francis. The royals arrived at the Apostolic Palace at 10.45am (0845 GMT) for private talks with the pope. The King and Queen then joined an ecumenical service at midday (1000 GMT) in the Sistine Chapel led by Pope Leo and the archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, who is also senior cleric of the Church of England. Broadcast live by Vatican media, it was the first time a reigning English or British monarch has prayed publicly with a pope since English king Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534. The service centred on conservation and protecting the environment, a cause championed by Charles. The religious break between London and Rome remains, even if there has been a significant rapprochement in recent decades. In 1961, the late queen Elizabeth II, Charles’s mother, became the first British monarch to visit the Holy See since the split. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England ordains women and allows priests to marry. Sarah Mullally was recently named the first female archbishop of Canterbury, the Church’s top cleric, although she has yet to officially take up her post. Charles and Camilla were also set to take part in a service at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, one of four major papal basilicas, which has historic links with

Washington and Venezuela accusing the United States of plotting to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, who said on Wednesday his country has 5,000 Russian man-portable surface-to-air missiles to counter US forces. Colombia is the world’s top cocaine producer but has worked for decades alongside the United States to curb production, which is controlled by a range of well-funded paramilitary, cartel and guerrilla groups. However, relations have soured markedly since Trump and Petro have taken power, with the fued intensifying in recent weeks over the Republican president’s deadly anti-drug campaign. “Under no circumstances can one justify that kind of threats and accusations that have no basis whatsoever,” Colombian Ambassador Daniel Garcia-Pena told AFP, after being recalled to Bogota for consultations. “There are elements that are unacceptable. “We are facing a US government that is trying to change the paradigm of its international relations, in which uncertainty unfortunately plays a very important role. “At stake here is a historic relationship of more than 200 years that benefits the United States and Colombia.” – AFP

“Just as Al-Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness, only justice.” The strikes, which Hegseth said were carried out in international waters, bring the number of such US attacks to at least nine, with 37 people dead, according to US figures. Until now, the strikes had only taken place in the Caribbean. The origin of the targeted vessels, namely eight boats and one semi-submersible, has not been disclosed, although some were destroyed off the coast of Venezuela. At least one came from Trinidad and Tobago, with another from Colombia, families of those killed told AFP. Washington has deployed stealth warplanes and navy ships as part of what it calls counter-narcotics efforts, but has yet to release evidence that its targets were drug smugglers. The Pentagon told Congress that the United States is in “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, designating them as terrorist groups and describing suspected smugglers as “unlawful combatants”. Experts say the summary killings are illegal even if they target confirmed traffickers. Regional tensions have flared, with Colombia recalling its ambassador to

King Charles holds historic prayer with pope VATICAN CITY: King Charles III yesterday met Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican and made history as the first head of the Church of England to pray publicly with the pontiff for five centuries.

Leo with Charles and Camilla in the Vatican yesterday during the visit by the royal couple. – AFPPIC

celebrates the Jubilee, a year-long event held every 25 years, which has drawn millions of pilgrims to the Vatican. It also comes at a delicate time for Charles following revelations about his brother Prince Andrew, who is mired in a scandal surrounding late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew announced on Friday he would relinquish his title as duke of York, reportedly under pressure from Charles. He had stepped back from royal duties in 2019. – AFP

the English crown. The King was made a “royal confrater” of the basilica and presented with a specially designed seat for use by him and future British monarchs. Charles has visited the Vatican several times and met privately with Pope Francis on April 9, just days before the pontiff’s death. He sent his son and heir William to the funeral and his brother Prince Edward, the duke of Edinburgh, to Leo’s inauguration mass. The visit comes as the Catholic Church