South Korea military brought live ammunition to parliament during martial law: Reports

SEOUL: Troops mobilised under the Dec 3 martial law decree brought with them thousands of rounds of live ammunition for their operations, reports revealed on Dec 17. The 707th Special Missions Group of the Army’s Special Warfare Command brought 3,960 live ammunition rounds, 1,980 blank rounds and 100 cartridges for stun guns when they were deployed...

MY50 pass renewals suspended from Dec 23-Jan 31 for system upgrades

KUALA LUMPUR: Renewals for the My50 pass will be temporarily suspended from Dec 23 to Jan 31 at all rail customer service counters, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and Rapid KL bus hubs. Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, as the operator of Rapid KL service, announced the temporary suspension to allow improvements to the My50 pass sales system. "The...

Dr Mahathir accuses three of his Cabinet of lying about Batu Puteh

PUTRAJAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) has accused three of his Cabinet ministers of lying about the decision to withdraw the application for review and interpretation of Pulau Batu Puteh. The former Prime Minister said he felt ashamed to have had such ministers in his Cabinet. "The leaked Cabinet meeting minutes show that the statements made by...

Proton to power on independently

KUALA LUMPUR: Proton will continue to operate independently without government interference, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The Prime Minister gave this assurance following Proton’s recent success and the lessons learned from past government interventions. “Proton’s illustrious history, founded by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has faced its share of challenges. The key lesson now is to...

Special election loss adds to misery for Canada PM Trudeau

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's ruling Liberals lost a special election in the western province of British Columbia, provisional results showed on Tuesday, deepening the political woes of beleaguered Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The minority Liberal government was rocked on Monday when Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unexpectedly resigned, citing policy differences with the prime minister whom she...

Telco workers caught stealing cables in Penang

GEORGE TOWN: By day, they fixed cables to bring Internet connectivity to all. But by night, using the same vehicle and equipment, the same group of men from Telekom Malaysia were stealing cables off the ground. A total 242 rods of telecommunication cable illegally cut and stolen from the ground have been recovered following arrest of eight...

Woman loses RM2.2mil in seven-year-long love scam without ever meeting ‘beau’

KUALA LUMPUR: A love scam victim lost millions over nearly a decade without a single face-to-face interaction. At a press conference on Tuesday (Dec 17), Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf stated that this might be the longest single case of a victim being duped in a love...

Senior citizen loses RM704,000 to WhatsApp investment scam

KEMAMAN: An elderly man has lost RM704,000 after falling victim to a fake investment scheme on WhatsApp. Acting Kemaman District Police Chief Dept Supt Wan Muhamad Wan Ja’afar said the 73-year-old businessman encountered an investment advertisement on the app promising lucrative returns. "Attracted by the offer, the victim joined the investment scheme known as Saham L-5 Cicc...

Police search for motive in Wisconsin school shooting

(Reuters) - Police in Wisconsin on Tuesday were interviewing friends and family and examining the online presence of a 15-year-old girl to determine what drove her to open fire in a school classroom, killing a fellow student and a teacher before taking her own life. The shooter, identified by police as Natalie Rupnow who also went...

China extends visa-free transit stays to 10 days

HONG KONG: China announced on Tuesday (Dec 17) a relaxation of its visa-free transit policy, extending the permitted stay for eligible foreign travellers to 240 hours, or 10 days, from the original 72-144 hours, as authorities aim to lure more foreign visitors. The measure, which is effective immediately, was announced by the National Immigration Administration (NIA)...