TOKYO, June 19 — Like the protagonist in his taboo novel, former doctor-turned-author Yo Kusakabe believes chopping off elderly patients’ useless limbs could help prevent a potential collapse of super-ageing Japan’s overstressed care industry.

Now his extraordinary ideas are on display on the big screen, with the book’s film adaptation attracting huge controversy since its release last month in Japan.

But “Haiyoshin (Useless Body)” – which sees a young doctor advocate for “A-care (Amputation Care)” – has also focused attention on the struggling care sector in a country with the world’s second-oldest population.

Kusakabe, a former geriatric specialist from Osaka, explained to AFP the thinking behind his shocking proposition, saying removing paralysed limbs would make patients lighter and “reduce the burden on caregivers” in case the care industry reaches crisis point.

He sees it as a potential game changer, provided patients in the real world give consent.

He argues that patients’ immobile arms and legs are nothing but an impediment to care-giving: they dangle like dumbbells, get stuck in pyjamas and require more bathing.

“If you cut them off, a female carer would have less difficulty lifting a hefty male patient or suffer less back pain,” the 70-year-old said.

Kusakabe’s 2003 novel features unstinting depictions of carer shortages, overburdened family members and abused elderly patients.

The topic feels even more relevant in present-day, greyer Japan, where almost one in three people are aged 65 or older.

The government estimates a shortfall of about 570,000 carers by 2040.

“Japan’s care-giving industry isn’t collapsing yet – but with (the number of) elderly people requiring care predicted to keep increasing, it is heading toward breaking point,” Kusakabe said.

In Japan, homicides by overwhelmed, desperate carers are common enough that the term “kaigo satsujin (care-giving murders)” often makes it into the news. One investigation by public broadcaster NHK in 2016 revealed that such a tragedy was taking place roughly once every two weeks.

If abuse or homicides further increase, Kusakabe said, “I think it’s possible that chopping off useless limbs would emerge as an option.”

‘Unfilmable’

Kusakabe says his novel was deemed “unfilmable” when it first came out more than two decades ago.

Now the story is finally in cinemas, reviewers online have labelled it everything from “shocking” and the year’s “most controversial film”, to “terrifying madness”.

But other critiques were more nuanced.

“Some may say (the amputation) is ruthless and unethical, but honestly I thought it had a point,” one wrote on cinema information website eiga.com.

In “Haiyoshin”, patients are also portrayed as benefitting – at least initially – from A-care.

Kusakabe recalls that some of his patients yearned to be rid of their crippled arms and legs that did nothing but throb, hinder movement and at times convulse unexpectedly.

No longer in pain, amputees in the film are shown relishing their newfound agility, tossing balloons with what remained of their bodies and deftly manoeuvring wheelchairs.

The film poses the question: what truly constitutes end-of-life dignity?

“Is it to try to put your immobile arms through sleeves with great pain, or not to suffer pain at all?” Kusakabe asks.

“If someone desires amputation, and that makes care-giving easier for their family, and the family accepts that, then I don’t think it’s anyone’s business to interfere.”

But such a “rational” pursuit of quality of life doesn’t necessarily guide elderly care in Japan, he adds.

Feeding tubes and intravenous drips for those aged 75 or older are heavily covered by insurance and are often used to keep alive those bedridden.

Families, too, “simply cannot bear the thought of doing nothing” for their dying parents or spouses, oblivious to the possible suffering such treatment is causing them, Kusakabe says.

That contrasts with Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Denmark where palliative care best practice often dictates elderly patients not be fed if they stop eating.

“Japan blindly believes that even those clearly better off being left to die must be kept alive and that’s the absolute right thing to do,” even as the toll on caregivers continues to snowball, the doctor says.

“This inability to take a bold, rational approach probably makes something as radical as A-care a poor fit for Japan after all.”

In “Haiyoshin,” the initial hype about elective amputation winds up brutally deflated by a tragedy that ultimately shatters the main character’s confidence about its efficacy.

“People tend to assume medical procedures are completely safe and they demand only the positive effect,” Kusakabe says.

The novel’s shocking twist is “my way of pushing back against those excessive expectations society has for medicine”. — AFP

PARIS, June 19 — Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes might have been whiling away his time as a mortgage advisor in Ireland instead of preparing to face Uruguay in the World Cup on Sunday had Shamrock Rovers not come calling.

The 34-year-old’s outstanding defensive performance for Cape Verde in the 0-0 draw with European champions Spain on Monday justified his decision to cut short working in the bank in 2017 and bet the house on making it as a professional footballer.

At the time he was combining his job with playing for Bohemians in the League of Ireland when their wealthier Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers offered him a professional contract.

The World Cup has catapulted him to a different level of exposure, appearing on US TV following the impressive World Cup debut by the African volcanic archiphelago of just 525,000 people.

Lopes, born in Ireland to Cape Verdean father Carlos and Irish mother Judy, was invited on to James Corden’s World Cup show on broadcaster Fox.

He said it was “the stuff of dreams” and it certainly has been since he belatedly put a message he received in 2018 from then Cape Verde coach Rui Aguas on LinkedIn, into Google Translate.

Aguas had got back in touch nine months later to ask him if he had he considered his offer.

“He said they were interested in getting new players into the national team and asked if it would be of interest,” Lopes told AFP in 2024.

“I said absolutely and apologised profusely, and that if the opportunity was still there I would love to be a part of it.”

Cabo Verde’s defender Pico Lopes takes part in a training session during the 2026 World Cup tournament at Waters Sportsplex in Tampa, Florida on June 18, 2026. — AFP pic

‘A dreamer’

Lopes said looking back he had thought the offer was a wind-up.

“I grew up in an era of prank phone calls and prank messages so I was always a bit sceptical,” he told the Irish Sun.

“I never thought an international call-up would come that way.”

Since making his debut in 2019 Lopes has been to two Africa Cup of Nations – reaching the quarter-finals in the 2023 edition – and now the pinnacle of any footballer’s career, the World Cup.

His performance against Spain was followed by several generations of his family, including his 98-year-old grandfather in Cape Verde.

His parents and two brothers along with his wife Leah and baby son Diego were at the match in Atlanta.

“He (Diego) slept through most of the match – it shows you how boring Spain was,” chuckled Lopes.

While Lopes, who has won five Irish titles with Shamrock Rovers, has been in a bubble at the squad’s base, his family have been hailed in the streets by Cape Verde supporters.

“They’ve seen us on TV, they’ve been approaching us on the street saying, ‘We recognise you’, all the way from Crumlin (the neighbourhood in Dublin where the family live), can you believe it?” Judy told RTE.

Lopes is still glad he went to college in Dublin, just in case the football career all grinds to a halt one day.

“If I didn’t go to college or I didn’t pursue education, I wouldn’t have known what LinkedIn was,” he told The Irish Sun.

“Your education is just as important.

“I’ve been able to balance (the job and football) and then get to a stage where I’ve left employment to go to full-time football.”

However, he recalls that even before he turned professional, he imagined playing for Cape Verde when he watched them in their maiden Africa Cup of Nations appearance in 2013.

“I am a dreamer. You watch anything yourself... ‘Could that be me? I wonder if that would ever happen to me?’”

The answer was yes and thirteen years later he is living the dream at the ‘Beautiful Game’s’ showpiece event. — AFP

JAKARTA, June 19 — Indonesia will suspend its free meal scheme during holiday periods, after mass protests in the capital condemned wasteful spending and demanded that the government address worsening economic conditions.

The multi-billion dollar meal scheme is one of President Prabowo Subianto’s signature policies, but has been widely criticised for its high costs, with hundreds demonstrating in Jakarta last week to call for it to be scrapped.

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN), the body tasked to distribute the meals, has ordered kitchens not to serve them in the upcoming June 22 to July 13 holiday period.

The agency said this will continue to apply on public holidays, religious holidays, and weekends.

BGN spokeswoman Agustina Arumsari said in a statement late Thursday the move was not just about “budget efficiency”, but would “ensure that every resource owned by the state truly provides optimal benefits for the groups in need”.

The state is expected to save more than three trillion rupiah (RM695 million) in the upcoming holiday period, Agustina said, adding that this would present an opportunity to take stock and “ensure that the free nutritious meal programme becomes more accurately targeted”.

More than 61 million people have benefited from the programme as of March, according to government figures.

But the scheme has been blighted by mass food poisonings and corruption claims since it started in January last year.

This month, Prabowo fired Dadan Hindayana, the head of the BGN since its inception in August 2024, along with two deputies. They stand accused of “crimes in management” of the agency.

The free meal scheme had a goal of reaching at least 82.9 million children, and pregnant and breastfeeding women – nearly one-third of the country’s population.

But it was among the first budget items to be cut back as Jakarta moved to counter the economic impact of the Middle East war.

More than 20 per cent of children in Indonesia are affected by stunting caused by severe malnutrition. — AFP

NEW YORK, June 19 — Scientists have long posited the earliest water animals to transition to land had amphibious tadpole features, going through a metamorphosis akin to that of today’s frogs.

But new research out Thursday in the journal Science challenges that conventional assumption. It presents analysis of rare fossils which scientists say fill knowledge gaps on the development of the creatures that gave rise to the first land-dwelling vertebrates.

The research centres on specimens excavated from the Mazon Creek fossil beds in northern Illinois, southwest of Chicago.

The world-renowned site features iron carbonate concretions that formed some 309 million years ago, fossilising within them ancient creatures that had once thrived in the area’s lush swamps, shallow seas and river deltas.

It’s known for its exceptionally well-preserved specimens including soft tissue.

The new study analyses dozens of fossils to examine the evolution between fish and tetrapods, or four-legged animals.

At the centre was a specimen determined to likely be the baby of a crocodile-esque creature known as an embolomere, which lived mostly in the water but did develop little legs.

In its juvenile stage, popular thought would have anticipated it to show tadpole-like features like external gills, explained Jason Pardo, a research associate at Chicago’s Field Museum and the study’s co-lead author.

But it didn’t, he said.

The body of the baby – the specimen of which the researchers said are about the size of a short, narrow macaroni noodle – instead showed evidence of direct development, meaning it was more or less put together the way they would be into adulthood.

That’s not what we would expect to see in amphibians, whose metamorphosis from tadpoles into adults includes much more dramatic rearranging and development of organs and limbs.

“We now actually have some direct fossil record evidence,” Pardo told AFP, “that this metamorphosis, this amphibian-like life cycle that we’ve for 150 years assumed was part of our history, turns out that it wasn’t part of that at all.”

Glorious fossils

John Long, an Australian palaeontologist who has also done extensive research in this field, called the study “quite outstanding.”

“Not much was known about their early life stages,” he explained to AFP of the animals that gave rise to the first tetrapods.

“This detailed work on a bunch of simply glorious fossils nails it that they went straight into a juvenile phase so didn’t need to go through the tadpole stage.”

Jason Anderson of the University of Calgary said the “impressive” paper highlights “the power of fossils to address questions we thought impossible given they take place in short periods of time, and in tissues not normally preserved over hundreds of millions of years.”

Both he and Pardo also noted that the study underscores that amphibians are impressive evolutionary creatures in their own right.

“Our amphibians, instead of being relicts of earlier stages in the evolutionary history of tetrapods, are themselves highly evolved creatures,” Anderson told AFP.

‘Love letter’ to citizen scientists’

The fossil serving as the focal point of the study had been in the collections at the Field Museum for a long time when the then-director showed it to paper co-author Arjan Mann, who became enthralled.

While both were doctoral students in Canada, Mann and Pardo puzzled over it for years.

Eventual analysis with scanning electron microscopy at the Canadian Museum of Nature allowed researchers to confirm it as a probable embolomere.

Throughout their research the duo analysed that fossil’s juvenile features along with another, smaller embolomere and other species of fossil baby tetrapod relatives.

Mann – the Field Museum’s Assistant Curator of Early Tetrapods – noted that their research was made possible by the remarkable discoveries at the Mazon Creek site and the amateur scientists who for decades have combed it, a hobby that over the years turned up the specimens analysed in the paper.

“This paper, in a way, is kind of a love letter to them, that shows the power of what we can do with working together with this community to synthesise really high-impactful new research,” Mann told AFP. — AFP

IPOH, June 19 — A violent afternoon storm ripped through Anjung Bercham here, damaging more than 200 homes across seven residential areas and triggering emergency response teams on the ground.

The Kinta District Civil Defence Force Operations Control Centre said the incident struck at about 3.47pm after reports were relayed by the Ulu Kinta (Tanjung Rambutan) village head, Bernama reported this evening.

“Acting on the information, three APM personnel were deployed to monitor the affected areas,” it said.

Among the affected locations were: 

• Dataran Tasek Timur 6 (177 houses)
• Hala Tasek Timur 1 (22 houses)
• Lorong Bercham 19 (22 houses) 
• Hala Tasek Timur 34 (10 houses)
• Tasek Timur 15 (five houses)
• Lintasan Tasek Timur 1 (two houses)
• Lintasan Tasek Timur 3 (two houses) 

The Ipoh City Council (MBI) deployed emergency teams at 5.05pm to clear fallen trees and debris blocking roads and posing risks to residents.

The storm also brought down several electricity poles, forcing TNB to temporarily shut off power supply in affected areas as a precaution.

Dewan Datuk Ahmad Said has been designated as the temporary evacuation centre.

The Kinta district office has directed all agencies to remain on alert following more than an hour of continuous heavy rain.

Locals have taken to social media to share pictures and videos of the storm and its aftermath.

SINGAPORE, June 19 — McDonald’s Singapore is turning 16 of its outlets into football viewing spots as World Cup fever grips the country.

The announcement was made on its Instagram account today, marking a reversal of its stance two weeks ago when the fast food chain said it would not be screening this year’s World Cup at its outlets.

Selected restaurants will stream live matches across the tournament period, with screenings scheduled at Ang Mo Kio, Bedok Reservoir, Jurong East 24, Kallang, Punggol Safra, Sengkang Sports Complex, Tampines Neighbourhood 3 and others.

Screening times will differ by outlet and advised customers to check directly with individual restaurants for match schedules.

McDonald’s has long tied itself to the tournament, previously showing matches across 41 outlets in 2014, 34 in 2010, 28 in 2006 and 19 locations in 2022.

Fans can also join a July 20 final watch party at Marine Cove from 2am to 6am, redeemable via 5,000 MyMcDonald’s Rewards points for up to five guests per entry.

The event will feature an unlimited serving of Chicken McNuggets and fries throughout the screening.

SINGAPORE, June 19 — Punggol residents will soon be able to hop on fully driverless shuttle rides for free as ComfortDelGro (CDG) opens its autonomous vehicle service to the public from June 22.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and CDG said the service will run daily, with Mondays and Fridays set aside for group bookings, families and passengers who require assistance, The Straits Times reported today.

The current route takes about 25 minutes, linking Block 420A Northshore Drive, Punggol Coast Mall and One Punggol (Sam Kee LRT station), with a longer 50-minute loop planned from July.

Bookings are required and can be made via https://zig.sg/driverless.

The five-seater autonomous vehicles are supplied by Chinese firm Pony.ai and operate with a safety officer onboard who can take over if necessary.

The public rollout follows an invite-only trial that began in April and has since carried more than 1,500 passengers, including residents and community representatives.

Earlier operations were paused after a January 17 incident in which a vehicle struck a road divider, with LTA later concluding the safety operator had taken control even though the system had responded correctly to an object on the road.

Subsequently, LTA and CDG revised protocols governing transitions between autonomous and manual driving and imposed additional mileage requirements before resuming trials.

CDG is one of two operators testing autonomous shuttle services in Punggol under Singapore’s wider push to integrate driverless transport into its public network.

The other operator is Grab, which has already transported more than 5,000 passengers and logged over 60,000km of autonomous mileage since starting public rides in April.

Grab is expected to begin charging S$4 (RM12.81) per trip when paid services start in mid-2026, while CDG has yet to announce its pricing plans.

DUBAI, June 19 — Iran's Strait ‌of Hormuz body ​said on Friday it would waive ‌planned fees to use ​the strait during a 60-day negotiation period under the memorandum ​of understanding signed with the United States this week.

Ships seeking passage through ‌the strait while ⁠the interim agreement ⁠is in ⁠force must submit ⁠transit ⁠requests at least 48 hours before arrival, ⁠Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said in a notice.

Iran would waive fees for security, ⁠safety, environmental services and related insurance during the period, ⁠while requiring vessels to coordinate ⁠routes ⁠and transit times ​in advance due ​to areas ‌affected by mines ​and to ​ensure safe navigation. — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar on Friday as persistent expectations of a possible US Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate hike later this year continued to drive the greenback.

At 6 pm, the local note fell to 4.1340/1395 against the greenback from 4.1145/1195 at Thursday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the prospect of higher US interest rates supported the greenback, exerting pressure on Asian currencies, including the ringgit.

“(Asian) currency markets continued to suffer from fears of monetary tightening by the Fed, where it is expected to increase the federal funds rate by 25 basis points this year,” he told Bernama.

At the close, the ringgit was lower against a basket of major currencies.

It dipped against the Japanese yen to 2.5636/5671 from 2.5588/5620 at Thursday’s close and weakened against the British pound to 5.4709/4782 from 5.4476/4542 previously. It also slipped versus the euro to 4.7376/7439 from 4.7222/7280.

The local note was also lower against regional currencies.

It weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.2019/2064 from 3.1898/1939 and declined against the Thai baht to 12.5856/6074 from 12.5611/5809 at Thursday’s close.

The ringgit also depreciated versus the Indonesian rupiah to 232.2/232.5 from 231.2/231.5 previously and eased against the Philippine peso to 6.80/6.81 from 6.79/6.80. — Bernama

JOHOR BAHRU, June 19 — Police are hunting two masked men wearing helmets who are believed to have splashed fuel and red paint before setting fire to a nasi kandar restaurant in Bandar Dato’ Onn here early this morning, a day before the premises was scheduled to hold its official opening tomorrow.

Johor Bahru South district police chief ACP Raub Selamat said police received a report regarding the incident at 3.59 am from a 30-year-old local man who operates the restaurant and based on the restaurant’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, the two suspects arrived at about 3.34 am before carrying out the act.

“The incident resulted in losses estimated at about RM200,000 and the cause of the incident is still unknown,” he said in a statement today.

He said the case is being investigated under Section 436 of the Penal Code and urged members of the public with information related to the incident to contact the Johor Bahru South District Police Headquarters hotline at 07-2182323.

Meanwhile, Johor Fire and Rescue Department said it received an emergency call at 3.43 am and dispatched personnel from the Tebrau Fire and Rescue Station and Kempas Fire and Rescue Station to the scene. 

However, the fire was successfully extinguished before the arrival of the fire and rescue team using eight fire extinguishers, and no injuries were reported.

The restaurant had previously announced its official opening tomorrow and was offering free food to visitors in conjunction with the event. — Bernama

LONDON, June 19 — Veteran UK Labour politician Andy Burnham won a crunch by-election on Friday, resoundingly securing a parliamentary seat and clearing the way for his expected bid to oust beleaguered Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Burnham, a former government minister who has been Greater Manchester mayor since 2017, ensured his return to parliament by easily beating the far-right Reform UK party’s candidate in the Makerfield constituency in northwest England.

The 56-year-old longtime figure in centre-left Labour wants to replace Starmer as party leader and prime minister, and needed to win the high-stakes vote to be in a position to trigger such a contest.

“We’ve been on path for 40 years that simply hasn’t worked for people and places in this part of the world,” Burnham told cheering crowds on Friday.

“This is the change moment, we have an opportunity to turn the tide,” he said, adding: “We’re going to lay out a new path for Britain.”

If Starmer does leave office this year, then Britain will get its seventh prime minister in 10 years.

“I do say to my own party, this is a final chance to change,” Burnham had said in his acceptance speech after securing nearly 55 per cent of the vote, beating Reform’s Robert Kenyon by more than 9,000 ballots.

Starmer, congratulated Burnham on X, but again pledged to fight any leadership challenge during a public appearance in London on Friday morning.

“If there is a contest then yes I will run, I will stand. I’ve said repeatedly, I’m not going to walk away from that,” he told reporters.

The 63-year-old ex-lawyer has repeatedly refused to quit despite dozens of calls from his own MPs and several ministerial resignations, insisting that his landslide election victory over the Conservatives in July 2024 gave him a five-year mandate to govern.

‘Transition’

Attention now turns to when Burnham could make his move against Starmer. So what happens next?

All eyes will be on whether Starmer can maintain the support of his cabinet. If senior ministers begin to tell him it is time to go or resign themselves, it would make his position increasingly untenable.

Burnham is due to be sworn in as a member of parliament on Monday. Under Labour party rules, leadership candidates must be an MP.

From the so-called soft-left wing of the party, Burnham has been an outspoken critic of Starmer’s more centrist rule. He will easily muster the support of 81 of Labour’s 400-plus MPs – the minimum needed to kickstart a contest.

The coming days will see negotiations and manoeuvring behind the scenes at the Westminster parliament.

Former health minister Wes Streeting, from Labour’s right wing, has vowed to join any race, but could end up striking a deal with Burnham to avoid a divisive fight.

Harriet Harman, a senior Labour figure and adviser to the prime minister, suggested in comments to the BBC that Starmer, Streeting and Burnham should meet party officials and agree a process for Labour MPs to choose a leader.

With Burnham back in parliament a replacement will need to be elected to fill his old job of mayor of Greater Manchester in northwest England, which city officials have confirmed will be on July 30.

Labour will face another fight with Reform and the Greens, which have both performed well in other recent polls.

Far-right disappointment

Thursday’s vote for the Makerfield seat was seen as a test of whether Burnham could defeat Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, in a national ballot.

Opinion polls suggest Reform could win the next general elections, not expected until 2029.

Farage said in a video on X that he was “disappointed” by Reform’s result, but argued that people had voted primarily to get Starmer out.

The fringe far-right Restore Britain party dented Reform’s vote by snagging nearly seven per cent of the ballot.

Starmer has been clinging to power since Labour suffered a drubbing in local polls in England, Scotland and Wales last month.

He has been rocked by several policy U-turns and a scandal over his appointment of ex-Jeffrey Epstein associate Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington.

Speaking to the BBC, polling expert John Curtice, however, cautioned against any suggestion that Burnham’s victory would lead to a “dramatic” improvement in Labour’s popularity nationwide. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) has officially consolidated its leadership under Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar following formal confirmation from the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

With the transition now legally recognised, PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan warned today that all meetings and activities held under the party banner must have the chairman’s explicit approval to remain in compliance with the Societies Act.

The directive follows the receipt of an official ROS letter dated today and addressed to Takiyuddin in his capacity as secretary-general of the coalition; the correspondence solidifies the coalition’s administrative standing and settles its management structure.

The ROS validation centres on two pivotal developments. First, the department has formally acknowledged the minutes from PN’s extraordinary supreme council meeting held on February 22, 2026.

This document records the supreme council’s formal acceptance of the previous chairman’s resignation and the official appointment of his successor.

Second, the ROS has officially logged the minutes from the supreme council meeting dated March 14, 2026. This filing includes the full roster of leadership appointments and the specific composition of the new PN Supreme Council committee, ensuring these records are now part of the national registry.

“In this regard, Perikatan Nasional remains committed to ensuring that all activities, administrative matters, and party management are carried out in accordance with the party's constitution and in compliance with Act 832.

“Therefore, it is emphasised that no activity or meeting using the name Perikatan Nasional may be carried out except with the consent of the chairman of Perikatan Nasional, Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar,” he said in a statement.

The move officially puts PAS in full control of the coalition following the split with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.

KUANTAN, June 19 — Seven individuals, including a driver and three media officers to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, were involved in a three-vehicle accident at Kilometer 144.2 of the East Coast Expressway (LPT) near Maran early this morning.

Maran District Police Chief Supt Wong Kim Wai said preliminary investigations revealed that the accident occurred around 1:00 am when a Foton lorry allegedly changed lanes abruptly causing the driver of a Toyota Fortuner heading towards Kuala Lumpur to lose control when trying to avoid but and resulting in a collision with the right side of the lorry.

“Another vehicle, a Hicom lorry, which was behind the two vehicles, tried to avoid the accident but lost control before crashing into the road divider,” he said in a statement today.

As a result of the accident, he said seven people traveling in the three vehicles sustained minor injuries and were sent to the Jengka Hospital for treatment.

Wong added that the incident is being investigated under Rule 6 (1) of the Road Traffic Rules 1959.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid, through a Facebook post, informed that all those involved in the accident were on their way back after attending the 2026 Pahang State Huffaz Gathering at Yayasan Pahang here last night.

He also expressed his gratitude to Allah SWT that all of them were safe and did not suffer serious injuries.

“To everyone currently on duty, please take good care of yourselves. Get enough rest, drive carefully, and always prioritise safety no matter how busy you are.

“May those involved make a full and speedy recovery, and may we all always be protected by Allah SWT wherever we are,” he said. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds are expected to hit 10 states and Kuala Lumpur until 7 pm today.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), in a statement issued today, said the warning covers several areas in Kedah, namely Pokok Sena, Padang Terap, Pendang, Sik and Baling.

In Perak, the affected areas are Larut, Matang dan Selama, Hulu Perak, Kuala Kangsar, Kinta, Kampar, Batang Padang and Muallim.

Similar weather conditions are forecast in Kelantan (covering Kota Bharu, Bachok, Machang and Pasir Puteh), as well as in Terengganu (Kuala Nerus, Hulu Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Marang and Dungun).

In Pahang, the warning applies to Cameron Highlands, Lipis, Raub, Bentong, Temerloh and Bera.

In Selangor, the areas affected are Hulu Selangor, Gombak, Petaling and Hulu Langat, while in Johor, it involves the areas of Segamat, Kluang and Mersing.

The same warning is also issued for Sarawak involving the areas of Betong, Sarikei (Pakan, Sarikei and Meradong), Sibu (Sibu) and Mukah (Tanjung Manis, Daro and Matu) and Sabah involving the Interior (Tambunan), West Coast and Kudat. — Bernama

JUNE 19 — The postponement of the planned United States-Iran talks in Switzerland on June 19 is a reminder that diplomacy in West Asia remains fragile even after the recent memorandum of understanding (MOU) that temporarily halted direct hostilities.

The MOU was signed by President Donald Trump at the G7 Summit, alongside the EU, and witnessed by leaders from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain barely two days ago in France.

What was supposed to be the beginning of a more structured process toward stabilising the region – based on the 14 points in the MOU – has instead become another illustration of how difficult it will be to move from ceasefire to genuine peace.

The immediate trigger for the cancellation was the renewed violence involving Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

While Washington and Tehran may have agreed in principle to reduce tensions, neither controls all the actors capable of reigniting conflict across the region.

The result is that diplomacy remains hostage to events on the ground.

For the global economy, however, the larger issue lies not in Switzerland but in the Strait of Hormuz.

Even if future negotiations resume, the reopening of Hormuz is proving far more complicated than many policymakers initially assumed.

According to recent maritime assessments, approximately 80 naval mines remain uncleared in and around critical shipping lanes.

Ships are seen anchored in Bandar Abbas along the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that carries about a fifth of the world's oil supplies and remains vulnerable to disruption amid tensions in West Asia, on June 18, 2026. — ISNA/AFP pic

As a consequence, normal commercial traffic cannot resume immediately despite the political understanding reached between Washington and Tehran.

This is a sobering reality.

Political agreements can be signed in a matter of days.

Clearing sea mines, restoring insurance confidence, re-establishing shipping schedules, and persuading tanker operators to return can take months.

The Strait of Hormuz is not merely another maritime corridor.

Historically, around one-fifth of global oil flows and a significant portion of liquefied natural gas exports have passed through this narrow waterway.

When traffic through Hormuz slows, the consequences ripple through energy markets, shipping costs, inflation rates, and supply chains across Asia, Europe, and beyond.

For Asean, the implications are immediate.

Most Southeast Asian economies are heavily dependent on imported energy.

Singapore serves as a major refining and trading hub.

Malaysia remains an energy producer but is also deeply integrated into regional energy networks.

Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines are all vulnerable to sustained disruptions in oil and gas markets.

A partial reopening of Hormuz should therefore not be mistaken for a return to normality.

The current situation resembles a highway that has technically reopened after a major accident but remains littered with debris.

Traffic may move, but it does so slowly, cautiously, and at higher cost.

Reports indicate that ships are being forced to use alternative routes and less optimal navigation channels.

Maritime operators remain concerned about residual mines, navigational interference, and uncertainties regarding future Iranian policies toward shipping access.

Hundreds of vessels continue to face delays across the Gulf region.

This suggests that energy volatility is likely to remain with us for some time.

For Malaysia and Asean, three lessons stand out.

First, strategic petroleum reserves become more important than ever.

Asean has discussed regional energy security for years, but the Hormuz crisis demonstrates why collective stockpiling mechanisms deserve renewed attention.

Second, diversification of energy sources must accelerate.

The transition toward renewable energy is often discussed in environmental terms.

Yet the Hormuz crisis shows that renewable energy is equally a matter of strategic resilience.

Third, Asean should continue supporting diplomatic efforts involving all major powers while avoiding entanglement in rival blocs.

The region’s prosperity depends on stable sea lanes and predictable energy markets rather than geopolitical confrontation.

The cancellation of the Switzerland talks should therefore not be interpreted as the collapse of diplomacy.

Switzerland has already indicated its willingness to host future discussions, and both Washington and Tehran still have strong incentives to prevent a return to full-scale conflict.

Yet neither should Asean assume that the crisis is over.

The mines remain in the water.

The shipping risks remain real.

The tensions in Lebanon remain unresolved.

The broader nuclear issue remains unsettled.

And trust between the United States and Iran remains exceptionally thin.

The path ahead is therefore likely to be long and uneven.

Diplomacy may have prevented a wider regional war for now.

But restoring confidence in one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints will require far more than diplomatic declarations.

It will require painstaking technical work, sustained political commitment, and, above all, the successful clearance of the roughly 80

* Phar Kim Beng is a professor of Asean Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia and director, Institute of International and Asean Studies.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.

PUTRAJAYA, June 19 — Malaysia’s trade performance shattered previous records in May, as a surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and automotive technologies propelled exports to an all-time monthly high.

Data released by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) reveals that total trade jumped 29.8 per cent year-on-year to RM327.63 billion. This represents the fastest pace of growth in 44 months.

Exports were the primary driver, climbing 45.3 per cent to a record RM184 billion, eclipsing the previous high set in April. This milestone marks the 11th consecutive month of export expansion and the strongest growth rate seen since August 2022.

While imports grew at a more moderate 14.1 per cent to RM143.62 billion, the gap between the two pushed the trade surplus to a historic peak of RM40.38 billion. This extends Malaysia’s unbroken streak of trade surpluses to 73 consecutive months, dating back to May 2020.

The growth was anchored by manufactured and mining products, with electrical and electronic (E&E) products emerging as the standout performer. The sector added RM38 billion to the total, hitting a new record high fuelled by the global appetite for AI-related technologies and automotive components.

Petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and optical and scientific equipment also contributed significantly to the gains.

Global reach and market expansion

Malaysia’s export momentum was widespread across its major trading partners. Asean, China, the United States, Taiwan, and the European Union all recorded strong double-digit growth, with exports to Taiwan and the EU hitting fresh record highs.

The country’s network of free trade agreements also opened new doors, boosting exports to markets including Mexico, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Pakistan across a diverse range of products.

The strength of the E&E sector is further evidenced by the performance from January to May 2026. During this period, total trade rose 18.3 per cent year-on-year to RM1.455 trillion.

Exports increased 24.3 per cent to RM793.84 billion, while imports grew 11.8 per cent to RM661.07 billion, resulting in a massive trade surplus of RM132.77 billion. Across the board, trade, exports, imports, and the surplus all reached historic highs for the first five months of the year.

Despite heightened uncertainty in global trade, Miti noted that Malaysia’s trade sector has remained remarkably resilient, with E&E products continuing to anchor the economy.

BEIRUT, June 19 — Fighting ​escalated sharply between Israel and Hezbollah in south Lebanon overnight, with four Israeli soldiers killed in one of the deadliest attacks by the Iran-backed group during this war, and at least 18 people reported killed in Israeli strikes.

Paris urged Washington to put pressure on ‌Israel to stop hostilities in Lebanon, where the intensifying violence strained an interim deal between the United States and Iran halting the broader Middle ​East war.

The deal requires the United States, Iran, and their allies to declare an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon. Violence abated significantly earlier this week, but has since picked up.

Lebanon’s health ministry said 18 people had been killed and 33 wounded in heavy airstrikes in 11 towns since midnight, and that bombardment was preventing rescue and ​evacuation efforts. It said the toll was expected to rise.

In one of the targeted locations – the village of Harouf, northeast of the city of Tyre – seven people were killed and many more were believed to be under rubble, health ministry sources told Reuters.

Israel cites ceasefire violations

Israel said it carried out strikes targeting what it described as Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure across several areas of the south, saying these were in response to repeated ceasefire violations by the Iran-backed group.

Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported heavy displacement from the southern districts of Tyre and Bint Jbeil, with residents fleeing north amid escalating ‌Israeli strikes.

Heavy fighting overnight was concentrated in an area north of the Litani River known as Ali al-Taher hill – high ground strategically important to Hezbollah where ⁠Israeli forces had sought to advance, a senior Lebanese security source said.

Hezbollah said its ⁠fighters ambushed an Israeli force advancing near the hill, destroying three Merkava tanks with guided missiles and targeting ⁠troops with rocket and artillery fire. Hezbollah said it ⁠later attacked Israeli forces that had sought ⁠to enter the area to retrieve casualties.

The Israeli military said four soldiers had been killed in an incident in Lebanon, but without giving further details.

Hezbollah attacks with explosive drones

Lebanon was sucked into the regional war when Hezbollah opened fire at Israel on March 2, prompting Israel to launch a major offensive against the group ⁠and invade the south.

Israel has rejected calls to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon, where its forces are occupying a self-declared security zone. Israel says this aims to shield northern Israel from Hezbollah attack. Its forces have been razing villages in the south where they say Hezbollah has embedded itself.

On Wednesday, Israel published a map showing an expanded military control zone in southern Lebanon and said it would not rule out carrying out attacks beyond it.

Hezbollah has continued to launch attacks on Israeli positions in the south this week, including with explosive drones that have killed and injured troops.

Lebanon’s health ministry has recorded 3,912 people killed in Lebanon ⁠as a result of Israeli attacks since March 2, including 746 medics, women and children.

Israel’s death toll from this round of hostilities with Hezbollah includes at least 32 soldiers and four Israeli civilians.

Smotrich urges Israel to open ‘gates of hell’

Israeli officials have voiced anger with the ⁠US-Iran pact, which the two signed on Wednesday, saying it did not go far enough to address Israeli concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and would tie down their military ⁠operations in Lebanon.

Israel’s far-right ⁠ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both lynchpins in Israel’s coalition government, issued blistering calls for revenge after the Israeli military announced the death of the four soldiers.

“For every tear of ​an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn,” wrote Ben-Gvir ​in a post on X. His ally Smotrich wrote that it was time ‌to “open the gates of hell”.

A senior Israeli official said Israel was engaged in “stubborn negotiations” with US President ​Donald Trump’s administration over maintaining troops up to 10 ​km inside southern Lebanon as it pursues Hezbollah. — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Bersatu information chief Datuk Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz today said that PAS should leave Perikatan Nasional (PN) and form a new coalition under its own logo and brand, instead of remaining in the opposition pact.

In a Facebook post today, Tun Faisal said Bersatu should remain in PN with other component parties and its allies under Ikatan Prihatin Rakyat.

“From the beginning, I have held the view that instead of continuously trying to force PAS’ will in a way that affects the spirit of comradeship, consensus and PN’s interests, it would be more appropriate for PAS to go solo, or form Muafakat Nasional with Umno as its leaders often repeat, or form a new coalition party with Parti Wawasan,” he said.

Tun Faisal claimed PAS had not been fully committed to PN, citing what he described as political negotiations outside the coalition’s framework.

He also cited PAS leaders’ repeated interest in reviving Muafakat Nasional with Umno, and allegations that the Islamist party had held meetings with government leaders without Bersatu or PN’s knowledge.

Tun Faisal also claimed PAS had not been loyal to the PN brand, pointing to its use of the PAS logo in Kelantan and Terengganu and earlier suggestions that it could contest in Johor under its own logo.

He said PAS had weakened PN’s identity and appeal by making the coalition appear more like a PAS-led “green” bloc than a broader “blue” coalition that could attract non-Malay parties.

His remarks come after Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the party would remain in PN and contest the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections using the coalition’s logo.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Bursa Malaysia’s composite index ended the week higher, extending its gains for a seventh consecutive session, supported by strong late-session buying in selected blue-chip counters.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 0.64 of a point, or 0.03 per cent, to close at an intraday high of 1,712.03 from Thursday’s close of 1,711.39.

The key index opened 7.35 points weaker at 1,704.04 and slipped to an intraday low of 1,699.18 in early trade.

Market breadth was negative, with losers leading gainers 525 to 491, while 547 counters were unchanged, 1,173 untraded and 34 suspended. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — The continued growth in international traffic reinforces Malaysia’s position as a key regional gateway under the Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign, according to Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).

The airport operator said in a statement today that Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) recorded 4.9 million passenger movements in May 2026, including 3.6 million international passengers, a two per cent increase compared to May 2025. 

Across the Malaysia Airports network, total passenger movements reached 7.9 million during the month, supported by sustained international connectivity.

“The introduction of Hainan Airlines’ direct service between Chongqing and Kuala Lumpur further strengthens our connectivity with China, one of Malaysia’s key visitor markets. 

“Expanding strategic air links such as these remains important in supporting tourism growth and enhancing Malaysia’s accessibility to international travellers,” said MAHB managing director Datuk Mohd Izani Ghani. 

MAHB said several passenger-focused improvements were also completed during the month, including modernised check-in counters at Miri Airport (MYY) and Limbang Airport (LMN), an expanded e-hailing pick-up zone at Langkawi International Airport (LGK), and the completion of the first phase of restroom refurbishment works at Subang Airport (SZB).

Malaysia Airports’ wholly-owned international asset in Turkiye, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISG), handled 4.1 million passengers in May, representing a 10.8 per cent increase compared to April 2026. — Bernama

PUTRAJAYA, June 19 — The Federal Court today struck out the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal of a man on a charge of murdering bullying victim T. Nhaveen nine years ago.

A three-member Federal Court bench led by Datuk Nordin Hassan made the ruling after Deputy Public Prosecutor Allan Suman Pillai informed the court that the notice of appeal could not be served personally on S. Gopinaath, 35, who resides in Penang, because the respondent could not be located.

“This is the fifth time the prosecution has attempted to serve the notice of appeal. I seek further directions from the court,” said Allan.

Also sitting on the bench were Datuk Seri Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Datuk Azimah Omar.

The prosecution had appealed against the Court of Appeal’s decision on Jan 13, 2025, to acquit Gopinaath of murdering Nhaveen, who was 18 at the time, at a park along Jalan Bunga Raya between 11pm and midnight on June 9, 2017.

Gopinaath was charged in 2021, four years after the incident, while the prosecution’s seventh witness was testifying during the trial.

The Court of Appeal also ordered four men – J. Ragesuthan and S. Gokulan, both now aged 27, as well as two others who were juveniles at the time of the incident – to enter their defence on a murder charge after allowing the prosecution’s appeal against the Penang High Court’s decision on Oct 3, 2023, to discharge and acquit them.

The appellate court also remitted the case to the Penang High Court for the four men to enter their defence.

The four were further ordered to enter their defence on a charge of causing injury to Nhaveen’s friend, T. Previin, near the Karpal Singh Learning Centre along Jalan Kaki Bukit, Gelugor, between 11pm and midnight on June 9, 2017.

Case management has been fixed for July 3 at the Penang High Court to set trial dates.

Nhaveen sustained serious injuries after being assaulted by a group of youths in an incident along Jalan Kaki Bukit, Gelugor.

He was admitted to Penang Hospital but died six days later.

His friend, Previin, was also reportedly assaulted by the same group with motorcycle helmets but managed to escape and seek help. — Bernama

JAKARTA, June 19 — Indonesia’s Mount Semeru erupted this morning, generating a pyroclastic flow that moved as far as 4.5 kilometres.

The mountain’s Observation Post officer Mukdas Sofian said the eruption, which occurred at 7.21am local time, also emitted white to grey ash plume that rose about 1,000 metres above the summit, according to Antara News Agency, on Friday.

Mount Semeru, the highest volcano on Java Island, remains at Level III (Alert) status. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR — A new mosque to be known as Masjid Warisan is being planned on a site in front of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) development, with the project expected to become a new landmark in the capital.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Zulkifli Hassan said the initiative reflects efforts to strengthen Islamic facilities in the Bukit Bintang area, Malay daily Kosmo! Online reported today.

“Insya-Allah, we want to develop a mosque that is beautiful and outstanding, in line with the grandeur of the TRX Tower,” he was quoted as saying after Friday prayers at Oasis Outreach Bukit Bintang, a temporary worship place that opened today while permanent facilities are being developed.

He said the project involves a 5.6-acre site located opposite TRX.

The planned mosque will be developed in collaboration with the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP), Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and other relevant agencies.

Zulkifli said the project is expected to become a new landmark in Kuala Lumpur.

He said the mosque will be built following agreement from the owner of a building previously known as the Yayasan Selangor building to dedicate the premises for religious use.

The owner has agreed to waqf the property despite its potential commercial value, he said.

“Alhamdulillah, we have agreed to build a mosque on the site that can accommodate more than 1,500 worshippers. The property owner has also agreed to endow it, and MAIWP has agreed to fund the project,” he said.

Zulkifli said the mosque will help address the lack of dedicated worship facilities in Bukit Bintang, a major commercial and tourism hub.

He said the area currently does not have a mosque specifically serving Friday prayers for the local community and visitors.

ARA DAMANSARA, June 19 — How can Malaysia solve the long-standing problem of some Muslim men who refuse to pay any of their children’s living expenses after divorce?

At a forum yesterday, Siti Hajar Mohd Ali, who chairs single mothers’ support group Kelab Sokongan Ibu Tunggal (KSIT), proposed a solution to deal with the problem efficiently.

She said the Syariah judicial system should fix a blanket and standardised monthly amount that Muslim fathers must start paying immediately for their children’s financial support — with each states able to decide its own sum.

Since KSIT was founded in 2015, Hajar said the problem of unpaid child support or “nafkah” has become like a “tradition”, as it is a recurring problem every year for the single mothers in the group.

At a SIS Forum (Malaysia) forum, KSIT chairman Siti Hajar Mohd Ali said Muslim men should be required to pay monthly child support immediately after divorce. — Picture by Yusof Isa

Currently, mothers going through divorce in Malaysia’s Syariah courts have to file separate cases for matters such as divorce, child custody and child maintenance, and it could take time for the court to hear and decide how much the father should pay for the child on a case-by-case basis.

Hajar proposed that the Department of Syariah Judiciary Malaysia (JKSM), which oversees Syariah courts nationwide, help judges to standardise these state-wide sums to cover situations such as when husbands verbally divorce their wives (talak).

“To make the courts and mother’s work easy, especially for the children’s benefit, let us set a benchmark. As soon as there is talak, for example, Selangor, set the child maintenance at RM500. Perlis, depending on the state, maybe RM300 for child maintenance,” she said, giving the figures as hypothetical sums to illustrate her point.

She said this proposal would not encroach on the power of states to manage the administration of Islamic affairs in their own states, as it will be up to each state to decide their own benchmark figures.

Hajar said this is a feasible proposal and that it would be possible to calculate this, as each state also has state-wide fixed sums for the “mas kahwin” or marriage dowries that Muslim men have to pay.

She said this solution would lighten the Syariah courts’ workload, as all they would have to do next is issue court orders to enforce the blanket child maintenance or even committal orders for fathers who fail to pay.

For fathers who do not agree with this blanket sum, they could appeal at the Syariah court, she said.

She was speaking at a forum in conjunction with advocacy group SIS Forum (Malaysia)’s launch of its 10-year statistics and findings from its free legal advice service, Telenisa.

Experiences of single mothers

Hajar stressed the importance of having these blanket child maintenance sums that take effect upon divorce to legally bind the fathers, to prevent them from forgetting their responsibility or obligation to their children after divorce.

Citing real-life examples of KSIT members’ struggles, Hajar said one mother was divorced by her husband shortly after giving birth to a child with disabilities, and has been going to court for years to claim child maintenance.

The child is now aged 17, and the unpaid child support has now accumulated to RM78,000.

In another KSIT member’s case, Hajar said a former husband, after years of non-payment, was suddenly able to settle RM38,700 in accumulated child support when the court issued a committal order to jail him for breaching court orders.

This indicates the father was irresponsible and there was a weakness in the Syariah judiciary’s enforcement, Hajar said, adding that it can cost thousands of ringgit for mothers to reach the committal stage in courts.

While there might be mothers who do not claim unpaid child maintenance because they believe the child’s father is unable to afford it, Hajar said this cannot be normalised and that they should still claim for it.

Syariah lawyer Sarah Mohd Ali told Malay Mail that she agreed with the idea for each state and the Federal Territories to have such blanket child support sums applicable to all fathers based on income tiers, but said it should only be a temporary amount until the Syariah court has a full hearing and decides what a father should pay as child maintenance in each specific case.

Sarah said this should only be made as an interim court order, as the actual financial needs of each child, and whether the amount is sufficient, would not be known without a full trial.

“So don’t make it a permanent order. Just interim order, until the case is being brought to full trial, so at least help the mother to survive day-to-day,” Sarah, who was also a speaker at the forum, told Malay Mail.

“Interim as the figures may not be final as it didn’t go for full trial yet. Judge doesn’t know the father’s income and liabilities. The interim child maintenance is to assist the mother temporarily until final child maintenance order issued,” she said.

She explained that during the full trial for child support orders, the Syariah court would look at the overall picture and also take into account the father’s monthly income, expenses and liabilities through documents such as payslips and bank statements.

With the full trial for child support orders possibly taking years to conclude, Sarah said fathers with a “conscience” would still pay while waiting for the court’s decision.

But there might also be fathers who “wash their hands” off their child just because there is no court order yet, which is why this temporary or interim order is important so that the father is required to pay something every month until the full trial ends, she said.

Civil and Shariah lawyer Sarah Mohd Ali said Syariah courts could grant divorce orders in clear-cut cases while setting an interim child support sum to assist mothers pending a full trial on maintenance. — Picture by Yusof Isa

Why mothers need to get court orders for child support

Crucially, Sarah said mothers can only claim for defaulted or unpaid child support payments from the date there is a court order for child maintenance.

In other words, mothers will not be able to claim unpaid child support for the period before the court order exists.

So while waiting for a full trial, if the court grants an interim order for child support and the father fails to pay, the mother can then claim these defaulted interim sums starting from the date the order was issued.

Alternatively, Sarah said mothers also have the relatively faster option of “Sulh” or mediation in Syariah courts to try to settle the child support issue, instead of going for a full trial or having an interim sum that the mother might think is too low for the child’s needs.

If both the father and mother agree to the child support figures during this mediation, a settlement agreement will be drafted and then brought before a judge to endorse it as a court order to settle the matter without going through a full trial, she said.

Men have obligation to financially support wife, children during marriage too

She said Muslim men are also required to provide child maintenance during marriage, so women can actually claim unpaid child support even before a divorce takes place or even if they do not want a divorce.

Sarah suggested that the interim blanket maintenance order could also be used in such situations of unpaid child support during marriages.

She also suggested that the interim order could apply to husbands who fail to pay the wife’s maintenance, including when the divorce is a contentious matter and it may take a longer time for the divorce to be finalised.

“If contentious, it’s going to take some time, so maybe there’s another structure whereby we can say that okay, while pending, maybe have to provide interim order, continue supply ‘nafkah’ especially to the children, but the wife also,” she told Malay Mail.

SYDNEY, June 19 — Australian lawmakers today suggested further regulation of the Big Four accounting firms could be necessary as they grilled KPMG executives over allegations of misconduct — the second big scandal in the country’s industry since 2023.

KPMG ‌has been accused by a whistleblower of misusing confidential company board papers from real estate company Lendlease to support bids for major audit tenders for Westpac, a large bank, and Dexus, a property firm.

The accusations have led to the resignation last month of the CEO of its Australian unit, Andrew Yates, as well as its audit chief. KPMG has admitted it has mishandled the whistleblower complaint and has launched a fourth investigation after its previous ones failed to substantiate any wrongdoing.

KPMG’s current and former executives as well as its lawyers have all been hauled before parliament to give evidence during a day-long public hearing.

KPMG questioned over whether partnership structure works

Greens Senator Barbara Pocock accused KPMG of having “leapt over any ethical consideration” in pursuit of ‌commercial gain, and drew parallels to the high-profile PwC tax leaks scandal in 2023.

She questioned whether further changes ⁠were needed to tighten oversight of the firms that ⁠are regulated as partnerships instead of companies.

That means they are not subject ⁠to supervision by the Australian Securities and ⁠Investments Commission, which has strict ⁠reporting requirements. Instead, they are regulated by state-based laws.

“Is the partnership structure now non-functioning in this circumstance? We are here the second time around, PwC and now you,” Pocock asked.

Deborah O’Neill, a senator from the ruling ⁠Labour party, echoed those sentiments and asked if there were bad apples in the firm or “is the whole barrel rotten?”

“I don’t see myself as a bad apple,” Yates replied.

“And nor do I see the firm to be full of bad apples. We are a large, complex organisation and we’re fallible.”

Asked why it took so long to share the complaint with the firm’s senior leadership, Yates said he felt reluctance ⁠at the time to share the issue with 680 partners.

O’Neill responded that under a company structure, there would have been an executive responsible for such matters.

“But the structure you have means ⁠everybody is responsible for everything that you do, jointly with you.”

KPMG accused of treating whistleblower horribly

Members of the ⁠joint parliamentary ⁠committee on corporations also heard how after the whistleblower complained to the firm, their computer was repeatedly searched and they were not given legal protections.

Paul Scarr, a senator with the right-leaning Liberal party, said the whistleblower “suffered a horrendous personal, mental and career ‌cost” due to KPMG’s treatment of them.

Yates admitted “we didn’t get it right”.

“We didn’t make them feel comfortable, as I’ve reflected on the things that led to me resigning,” he said. — Reuters

SYDNEY, June 19 — A British actress who once appeared in an EastEnders spin-off and alongside Jason Statham is facing serious drug trafficking charges in Australia after authorities alleged she was involved in an attempt to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine into the country.

According to the BBC, Emaa Hussen, 34, appeared before a Sydney court yesterday after being charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine into Australia. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Police allege Hussen worked with a couple from South Australia in a scheme to import 320kg of methamphetamine concealed inside bags of charcoal shipped from Ghana. Authorities estimate the seized drugs had a street value of A$296 million (RM860 million).

Hussen was previously known to television audiences for playing Naz in E20, the EastEnders spin-off that debuted in 2010. She also appeared in Jason Statham’s 2013 action thriller Hummingbird, released in the United States under the title Redemption.

The case stems from an investigation launched in April after Australian border officials detected irregularities in two shipping containers that arrived at Sydney’s Port Botany from Ghana.

Authorities said X-ray scans of containers declared as carrying charcoal uncovered a “white crystalised substance”, which subsequent testing confirmed was methamphetamine.

Investigators removed the drugs before allowing the shipment to continue to a storage facility in Girraween, in Sydney’s western suburbs, as part of a controlled operation.

Police allege Hussen later attended the facility and supervised several men as they unpacked the container. Several bags were then loaded into a vehicle before being transported to a house in Blacktown, where officers arrested Hussen. Electronic devices and a notebook were also seized during the operation.

As part of the wider investigation, police also arrested a 30-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man in Adelaide. They have been charged with allegedly using false identities to rent the Sydney storage units where the shipment was delivered.

Hussen was refused bail at an earlier court hearing and is scheduled to return to court in August.

“The seizure of these drugs — with an estimated street value of A$296 million — has prevented a potential 3.2 million deals from reaching Australian streets,” Det Acting Supt Trevor Robinson of the Australian Federal Police said.

Australian Border Force Supt Jared Leighton also praised officers involved in the investigation.

“Criminal syndicates will go to great lengths to disguise illicit drugs, including embedding them in everyday goods like charcoal, but our highly skilled officers are trained to see beyond these attempts”.

SINGAPORE, June 19 — Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has called for Russia’s continued engagement in Asean-led mechanisms as the republic prepares to assume the Asean Chairmanship in 2027.

Singapore’s Foreign Ministry said Wong, who participated in the Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit (ARCS) in Kazan, Russia, welcomed Russia’s support for Asean Centrality and encouraged Moscow’s continued participation in Asean-led mechanisms, including the Asean Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit.

“Prime Minister Wong looked forward to working with Russia under Singapore’s Asean Chairmanship in 2027,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Wong participated in the ARCS from June 17 to 18 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the two leaders later met on the sidelines of the summit and exchanged views on bilateral relations as well as regional and international developments.

During the summit, Asean and Russia reaffirmed their commitment to deepening cooperation in areas of shared interest.

The foreign ministry said Wong also highlighted that Singapore and Asean had consistently called on parties involved in conflicts to exercise restraint, return to dialogue and pursue the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law. — Bernama

SANTA CLARA (‌California), June 19 — Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro yesterday vented his fury over criticism his players endured after their opening World Cup hammering by the United States, telling media to lay off his team and send all of ‌the punches his way.

Alfaro took full responsibility for Paraguay’s 4-1 defeat by co-hosts the United States last week and said his players must be left alone so they can get their Group D campaign back on track today against Turkiye.

“Criticise me. You can shoot at me but not at them. Protect them. You know why? Because when the World Cup is over, I will be gone, but they will stay. They will remain and they will keep on representing the country,” Alfaro said, waving his finger repeatedly during a packed press conference.

“Please hit me. Hit me. I’m going to chin up and take all of your punches. But I’m only asking you to defend the ‌players, they are the most valuable asset that the national team has.”

Paraguay, known as “La Albirroja”, last ⁠played in the World Cup in 2010, where they ⁠were eliminated by eventual champions Spain in a dramatic quarter-final that ⁠marked their best run in the ⁠tournament.

There will be little ⁠room for error for either Paraguay or Turkiye in the San Francisco Bay Area today after both sides suffered opening-game defeats, with Turkiye beaten 2-0 by Australia.

The two sides will have an idea ⁠mathematically of the task ahead, with the United States taking on Australia in Seattle earlier in the day.

‘You can destroy the coach, that’s fine’

Alfaro said Paraguay had been “overwhelmed and steamrolled on all fronts” against the United States but had since regrouped and would put up a good fight against Turkiye.

But as he tried to focus on the upcoming match, he became visibly vexed by questions about ⁠his opening game selection and went into another long tirade.

“I closed the US chapter on Saturday and you’re bringing me back to this US chapter. Tomorrow, we have a final ⁠against Turkiye,” he said.

“They are here, representing seven million people. So I would like to see you defending ⁠that jersey ... ⁠you can destroy the coach, that is fine.”

Midfielder Matias Galarza sat beside Alfaro, looking awkward at times during a heated press conference that ran well over the allotted time.

“Well, it’s difficult to speak now, isn’t it,” Galarza said, ‌drawing laughter from the media.

“Obviously that game was a shock to us... The US game chapter is closed and tomorrow we have a final, and that’s how we see it.” — Reuters

KUCHING, June 19 — The water level at Batang Ai Dam is currently at ‘Event and Drought Emergency Level 1’, while Bakun Dam is at ‘Drought Emergency Level 1’, revealed Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

The Deputy Chief Minister said Murum Dam is currently under ‘Drought Event’ status, while water levels at other major dams remain within normal ranges but could deteriorate if the hot and dry weather persists.

He said the Sarawak government has launched another round of cloud seeding operations in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) focussing on major dams and water catchment areas across the state.

A Sarawak Public Communication Unit (Ukas) report quoted Uggah as saying the targeted dams are Batang Ai in Lubok Antu, Bakun and Murum dams in Belaga, as well as the Bengoh, Matang, Simunjan, and Gerugu catchment areas.

“We hope the operation will be successful so that water supply problems can be resolved or at least reduced. The weather conditions are indeed very hot and dry at the moment,” he told a press conference here on the cloud seeding operation.

Uggah, who is also State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, said a similar operation conducted in May had successfully increased water levels at Batang Ai Dam, although water levels at Bakun Dam remained a concern.

He stressed that maintaining adequate water levels at Batang Ai, Bakun, and Murum dams is crucial as the three facilities serve as Sarawak’s main sources of electricity generation.

He also assured the public that the cloud seeding process is safe as it uses ordinary salt as the seeding agent.

Separately, Uggah said SDMC has directed all divisional and district disaster management committees to strengthen their readiness to deal with potential haze and peatland fires as the dry spell continues.

He said rising temperatures and prolonged dry conditions typically lead to an increase in hotspots, heightening the risk of open burning and peatland fires.

“We have instructed all divisional disaster management committees chaired by residents, as well as district committees headed by district officers, to make early preparations.

“Among the key areas of focus are locations identified as being prone to fires,” he said, citing Kuala Baram as among areas being closely monitored.

Uggah said the state government has put in place various supporting infrastructure, including tube wells, small dams, and observation towers to facilitate rapid response efforts in the event of fires.

He added that cooperation with landowners is also being strengthened to ensure firefighting operations can be carried out more effectively.

The Department of Environment and the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) have also been instructed to deploy drones to monitor high-risk peatland areas.

“The wisest approach is to act as soon as smoke is detected and not wait until flames become visible.

“Once flames can be seen, the affected area is usually already extensive and the fire can spread rapidly because peatland becomes extremely dry and highly combustible,” he said.

Should the need arise, he said SDMC would implement flooding operations in peatland areas in accordance with established standard operating procedures to prevent fires from spreading further.

Uggah also reminded the public to refrain from open burning and to immediately report any sign of smoke or fire to the authorities. — The Borneo Post

VERSAILLES, June 19 — A French appeals court today confirmed Moroccan football star Achraf Hakimi will stand trial charged with raping a young woman.

In February 2023, a woman then aged 24 told police in the Val-De-Marne region south-east of Paris that Hakimi had raped her.

The Paris Saint-Germain player and captain of the Moroccan national team, whose side are playing their second World Cup match on Friday against Scotland, has consistently denied the allegations. — AFP

PHNOM PENH, June 19 — Cambodia’s top court suspended today a prison sentence handed to opposition politician Rong Chhun but upheld a ban on him running for office, his lawyer said.

The outspoken Nation Power Party adviser was sentenced to four years in jail last year for incitement to cause social unrest — a charge Cambodian authorities frequently use against activists.

He was also banned from voting, running for office and holding office for five years.

Rong Chhun lodged an appeal on Monday and the Supreme Court suspended his jail sentence for three years on Friday but upheld the ban on voting, as well as holding and running for office, his lawyer Em Chantha told reporters.

The case was brought against Rong Chhun in 2024 after he met victims of land disputes and commented on Prime Minister Hun Manet’s visit to the border area with Vietnam.

“It is an unjust ruling,” Rong Chhun told reporters outside court.

He accused Cambodia’s rulers of trying to keep him out of local polls next year and a general election planned for 2028.

“Just by today, I know that I am influential, that the rulers dare not to grant me freedom to compete in upcoming elections in 2027 and 2028,” Rong Chhun said.

He said he would consult with his legal team about whether to seek a royal pardon.

“We are not running out of hope yet,” he said.

Around 200 supporters rallied at police barricades outside the court, chanting “drop the charge against Rong Chhun”.

“It is unacceptable for the supporters. We want him to have freedom, democratic space, and the national reconciliation,” supporter Prum Chantha told AFP.

Rights groups have long accused Cambodia’s government of using legal cases as a tactic to silence opposition voices and legitimate political dissent.

Opposition leader Kem Sokha, who had been sentenced to 27 years for treason, was pardoned last month, but his political rights, including holding office, and voting remain revoked. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Police have arrested four men, including a teacher, after raiding a house suspected of being used for drug-related activities in Kampung Raja, Besut early yesterday.

According to Sinar Harian, Besut police chief Superintendent Mohd Rozaime Ab Rahim said the raid was carried out at about 1.30am by the Besut district police headquarters’ Narcotics Criminal Investigation Division following intelligence on suspected drug distribution in the area.

“All the suspects arrested are aged between 25 and 36. Initial investigations found that one of them is a civil servant serving as a teacher,” he was quoted as saying in a statement yesterday.

Police also seized 21.70g of suspected cannabis, estimated to be worth RM1,085, during the raid.

Mohd Rozaime said initial urine screening found that three of the four suspects tested positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.

All four suspects have been detained, with the case being investigated under Sections 39A(1) and 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

He also urged the public to continue providing information on drug-related offences in their areas to help safeguard community safety.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — The High Court here has set aside a subpoena requiring Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to appear as a witness in a RM30 million civil suit filed by 12 individuals against businessman Datuk Vinod Balachandra Sekhar and his wife, Winny Yeap Liew Heoh.

The suit was filed in 2023 by 10 investors and two former employees of Vinod, who alleged misrepresentation, fraud and breach of contract.

Judicial Commissioner Datuk Muhammad Adam @ Edward Abdullah, in allowing Anwar’s application to set aside the subpoena issued on January 15, ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to establish that the Prime Minister was a relevant and material witness to the proceedings.

“No useful purpose would be served by compelling his attendance. To do so would be oppressive and would divert the trial from the real legal issues.

“The plaintiffs relied on photographs, social media postings and public appearances involving Anwar and Vinod. At their highest, such materials may demonstrate acquaintance or association, but they do not establish that the applicant possesses personal knowledge of the transactions pleaded.

“Relationship does not equate to materiality,” he said.

The court further emphasised that the issuance of a subpoena is not automatic and must be subject to judicial control.

“Otherwise, anyone mentioned in an email, photographed with a party, or referred to in a conversation could be compelled to attend court. That is not the law,” the judge said.

Muhammad Adam also noted that although the plaintiffs argued Anwar’s name had allegedly been used to perpetrate fraud, their own witness acknowledged there was no evidence showing the Prime Minister’s name had been used to solicit investments or obtain funds.

“Therefore, the court allows the applicants’ application to set aside the subpoena,” he ruled.

The court also ordered the plaintiffs to pay RM20,000 in costs to Anwar.

Lawyer Sanjay Mohan appeared for the Prime Minister, while lawyer Colin Andrew Pereira represented the plaintiffs.

According to the plaintiffs’ claim, Vinod had persuaded them to invest either personally or through his companies without disclosing his alleged bankruptcy status.

The plaintiffs further alleged that concerns raised in an email dated September 30, 2020, were dismissed by Vinod, who allegedly stated that an individual named “Anwar” would resolve the matter, leading them to believe the reference was to the Prime Minister. — Bernama

JUNE 19 — For background, on May 9 this year, Malay Mail published a two-part article by P.K. Saxena titled “Indus Waters Treaty: Asymmetric obligations, unequal concessions and Pakistan’s weaponisation”.

The article tried to do more than criticise Pakistan. It sought to recast the Indus Waters Treaty as a historical injustice to India, to portray Pakistan’s use of Treaty procedures as obstruction, and to defend India’s decision to hold the Treaty in “abeyance” as a legitimate correction of an allegedly unequal bargain.

When such an argument enters the public domain, it carries institutional weight even when formally described as personal opinion. For that reason, the record should be corrected carefully, professionally and firmly from Pakistan’s side.

Water treaties survive because facts are kept straight, obligations are not blurred, and unilateral narratives are not allowed to harden into public assumptions. If a former Treaty official presents safeguards as unfairness, dispute settlement as weaponisation, and unilateral suspension as a right decision, silence would risk normalising a view that is legally unsound and strategically dangerous. The Indus Waters Treaty is too important to be left to grievance writing.

Saxena begins with a true fact and then draws the wrong conclusion. India is the upper riparian on the Western Rivers before they enter Pakistan, and Pakistan’s agricultural heartland depends critically on reliable flows. But that is precisely why the Treaty exists. It was not born out of Indian generosity. It was born out of the acute vulnerability created by Partition and the April 1948 canal-water crisis, when East (Indian) Punjab stopped supplies to West (Pakistani) Punjab after expiry of the temporary arrangement. That episode deprived areas of Pakistan of water at a critical agricultural moment and left a lasting fear that upstream control could be used to decide downstream survival.

The Treaty replaced upstream discretion with legal obligation. The Inter-Dominion arrangement of May 4,1948 recorded a live dispute over East Punjab’s supply of canal waters to West Punjab. The later Treaty superseded that temporary arrangement and fixed a durable settlement. Its purpose was not sentiment. It was certainty.

The same correction is needed for the World Bank’s 1954 proposal. Saxena lists elements of that proposal — no Chenab waters at Marala for India, the non-diversion of about 6 MAF from the Chenab, abandonment of some planned upper-reach developments and no water development in Kutch from the system — as if they prove that India was punished for cooperation. They prove something else: the Bank’s central idea was mutual independence. Historic withdrawals had to continue, although not necessarily from existing sources, and each country had to control the works supplying its allocated waters. In practical terms, the settlement had to avoid a situation in which Pakistan remained dependent on Indian-controlled works for the water feeding its fields.

This file picture shows fishermen clear a fishing net on the riverbed of the Indus River in Hyderabad, Pakistan April 25, 2025. — Reuters pic

Pakistan’s caution between 1954 and 1958 was not a strategy of delay for delay’s sake. Pakistan was being asked to give up historic reliance on the Eastern Rivers. It therefore had to know whether the Western Rivers, supported by replacement works and storage, could actually sustain the canals and command areas that had depended on Ravi, Beas and Sutlej supplies. A paper allocation that left fields dry would not have been a settlement. It would have been an engineering and human disaster. Insistence on replacement works was not obstruction. It was the basic condition for making the Treaty work.

Saxena’s most striking claim is that Pakistan “controls” roughly 80 per cent of the system while India received only about 20 per cent. This is hydrological arithmetic used as political rhetoric. Pakistan does not physically control the Western Rivers before they enter Pakistan. India is upstream on substantial stretches of those rivers. Article III of the Treaty therefore requires India to let flow the waters of the Western Rivers and not interfere with them except for the limited uses expressly permitted by the Treaty. Pakistan is the downstream recipient of a legal entitlement; it is not the upstream controller of the rivers.

It is to be understood that the real bargain was not charitable, nor merely volumetric, it was a quid pro quo. Pakistan placed the Treaty before the Court as a settlement of three linked bargains viz. the Peace Bargain, by which the post-Partition risk of upstream physical control over waters being used coercively was converted into a binding legal framework; the Treaty Bargain, by which the six main rivers were divided river-wise — the Eastern Rivers to India and the Western Rivers to Pakistan, in each case subject to the Treaty’s express exceptions; and the Western Rivers Run-of-River Hydro Bargain, by which India’s permitted uses of the Western Rivers, especially hydro-electric generation, were allowed but tightly constrained by Article III and Annexures C, D and E. Though India did not participate in the Court’s proceedings, however, at the Permanent Indus Commission and in Baglihar Neutral Expert’s proceedings held in 2005-06, India resisted that framing, relying instead on the Preamble’s language of “most complete and satisfactory utilisation” and on the optimum development of the rivers, while arguing that Pakistan’s fear of weaponisation was unfounded and that the Treaty was not designed to ensure that India could never diminish flows to Pakistan. The Court’s answer, after considering India’s position available on record, was not to read the Preamble as a charter for maximum unilateral development by India, or by either Party. It held that complete and satisfactory utilisation is achieved through a stable, final and cooperative delimitation of the Parties’ respective rights and obligations.

That is why the Western Rivers cannot be described as waters over which India merely formalised access while they passed through territory occupied by it. India obtained legal finality over the Eastern Rivers after the Transition Period; Pakistan obtained legally protected access to the Western Rivers, not as an absolute entitlement to exclude every Indian use, but through India’s obligation to let flow and not interfere except for Treaty-specified uses. The Court stated that, although the Treaty is not a boundary treaty, it has an objective akin in significance and permanence to a boundary treaty. It then determined that the object and purpose of the Treaty is not merely to allocate the Eastern Rivers to India and the Western Rivers to Pakistan for “complete and satisfactory utilisation”, but also to delimit in considerable detail the obligations of upstream India on the Western Rivers so as to ensure Pakistan’s safe and continual access to those waters — the outcome Pakistan framed as the Hydro Bargain. Thus, India may generate hydro-electric power on the Western Rivers, but only through Treaty-conforming projects and within the limits fixed by Article III and Annexure D; those limits are to be strictly construed, though not so strictly as to deny India the capacity to generate hydro-electric power from projects built in conformity with the Treaty.

The financial argument is also distorted. Saxena says India paid around 62 million pounds to support infrastructure in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and, in effect, paid to give away water. Article V says otherwise. India’s fixed contribution was made because Pakistan had to construct replacement works to replace, from the Western Rivers and other sources, irrigation supplies in Pakistan that on 15 August 1947 had depended on the Eastern Rivers. The money went into the Indus Basin Development Fund administered by the World Bank. The Treaty also states that the contribution did not give India any right to participate in Pakistan’s decisions regarding those works.

The 62 million pounds were therefore not charity, not compensation for Pakistan, and not payment for infrastructure in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan. They were part of the settlement price of a bargain from which India benefited: the Eastern Rivers became available to India for unrestricted use after transition, while Pakistan bore the burden of rebuilding a vast irrigation system. The replacement works - including major dams, barrages, a siphon and inter-river link canals - were not symbolic. They were the physical foundation without which the Treaty could not have been implemented.

Saxena complains that the Treaty imposes one-directional restrictions on India. In one sense, it does. In law and in engineering, that is the point. India is upstream on the Western Rivers. A downstream State cannot manipulate upstream flows in the same way an upstream State can affect downstream flows. Restrictions on storage, pondage, outlets, spillways, intakes and operations are therefore not punishments. They are the safeguards that make downstream entitlement real.

Nor is it correct that Pakistan accepted no obligations. Pakistan surrendered historic dependence on the Eastern Rivers, undertook the replacement programme, accepted the end of any post-transition right to releases from the Eastern Rivers, and remains subject to Treaty obligations on data, cooperation and specified reaches and tributaries. Article VI on exchange of data, Article VII on future cooperation and Article VIII on the Permanent Indus Commission are not ornamental provisions. They are part of the bargain for both sides.

This is why the charge of obstructing hydropower must be treated with care. Pakistan does not say India can never build on the Western Rivers. The Treaty itself permits run-of-river hydropower. But a project is not lawful merely because it is labelled run-of-river. It must comply with Annexure D. Low-level outlets, gated spillways, submerged intakes, pondage, freeboard and operating rules are not technical trivia. They determine how much control an upstream operator can exercise over the timing, volume and reliability of downstream flows. Nor does Pakistan lose the right to object because a project might, in some circumstances, offer regulated-flow or flood-moderation benefits. A project may have possible benefits and still fail the Treaty test.

The 8 August 2025 Award on General Issues and 15 May 2026 Supplemental Award on Pondage are directly relevant here. These Awards addressed general questions concerning Annexure D and made clear that the Treaty constraints come first. Contemporary engineering practice cannot override the Treaty. A design is not lawful because it is optimal for India; it must be the design practically achievable within the constraints India accepted. The Court also clarified issues concerning low-level outlets, gated spillways, turbine intakes, pondage and freeboard. That alone defeats the claim that Pakistan’s objections are merely political devices.

Saxena relies on Baglihar, Kishenganga, Pakal Dul and Tulbul as examples of systematic obstruction. The more accurate conclusion is that these projects raised real Treaty questions. Baglihar cannot be converted into a general licence for all future Indian projects. The Court has rejected that approach, holding that a Neutral Expert’s determination is binding only for the particular matter decided and is not a standing precedent for every future hydropower design on the Western Rivers.

Equally, Pakistan’s use of Article IX cannot be called weaponisation without attacking the Treaty itself. Article IX was drafted because the parties knew that questions, differences and disputes would arise. The Court’s 6 July 2023 Award on Competence rejected India’s objections and confirmed that the Court was competent to hear the disputes placed before it. India’s non-participation does not make Pakistan’s recourse unlawful. It makes the Court’s careful scrutiny of the record even more important - and the Court has recorded that it took steps to understand India’s positions from the available material.

Saxena says Pakistan raises a “water aggressor” narrative against an India that has scrupulously complied for decades. Even if India complied during the 1965 war, the 1971 war and the Kargil conflict, that was performance of a binding obligation, not a credit that can later be spent to suspend the Treaty. The facts since April 2025 make the accusation against Pakistan impossible to accept at face value. India announced that the Treaty would be held “in abeyance”. Pakistan replied that “abeyance” has no legal meaning in the Treaty, that Article XII(4) keeps the Treaty in force until terminated by a duly ratified treaty between the two Governments, and that baseless terrorism allegations, which Pakistan rejects, cannot be used to suspend a water-sharing treaty outside the Treaty framework.

The Court’s Supplemental Award of 27 June 2025 supports the essential legal point. The Treaty contains no unilateral power of abeyance or suspension. Article XII(4) reflects the intention that the Treaty continues in force unless terminated by mutual treaty. The Court also held that India’s abeyance position could not affect the Court’s continuing competence. That conclusion matters because it rejects the idea that a party can escape Treaty procedures by announcing a unilateral political position after dispute settlement is already underway.

The human-rights dimension is not rhetoric. The UN Special Procedures communication dated 16 October 2025 and made public in December 2025 recorded that the Indus rivers irrigate about 18 million hectares of farmland in Pakistan, around 80 per cent of its arable land, and contribute substantially to Pakistan’s economy. It warned that disruption through pondage filling, reservoir operation, gate releases or sediment releases could affect rights to water, food, livelihood, work, environment and development. Water should not be used as a means of political pressure. That is not Pakistan’s propaganda; it is a sober human-rights concern.

Recent correspondence reinforces why the Treaty machinery is essential. In May 2025, Pakistan raised serious concerns over abnormal Chenab flows at Marala, including a peak of 78,276 cusecs followed by a decline to 1,527 cusecs, with insignificant rainfall indicated by available records. Similarly, Pakistan wrote to Indian again in December 2025 when pronounced and abrupt variations were observed in the Chenab River at Marala, with flow dropping as low as 870 cusec. In May 2026, Pakistan once again wrote about abrupt variations at Chakothi on the Jhelum and Marala on the Chenab, including a fall at Marala from 21,887 cusecs to 5,689 cusecs within the event window. Pakistan sought explanations, operational data and inspections. These are not theatrical objections. They are the requests a downstream Commissioner must make when sudden variations affect barrage and canal management and when Treaty compliance has to be verified. With these recent developments including India’s announcement of diversion of Chenab into Beas India’s argument that Pakistan’s fear of weaponisation was unfounded is now far from hypothetical.

The same is true for project information. When reports appeared regarding Dulhasti Stage-II, Pakistan did not reject development in principle; it asked for formal Treaty notification, design particulars, pondage and operational data, and consultations. When reports emerged about Sawalkot, Pakistan asked for information and latest status. When NHPC issued a tender concerning making the Salal dam undersluices operational, Pakistan invoked both the Treaty and the 1978 Salal Agreement, which required the outlet works to be permanently closed with concrete plugs except under tightly defined conditions and consultation. Requests for data, inspection and consultation are the opposite of obstruction. They are Treaty implementation.

Saxena’s development argument is also overstated. He says Rajasthan and parts of Punjab remained arid and that Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) hydropower potential was suppressed. But India received unrestricted use of the Eastern Rivers and retains defined rights on the Western Rivers. The Treaty does not ban development in IIOJK’s. It regulates it because India is upstream and Pakistan is downstream. If development is delayed because designs seek more storage, control or operational discretion than the Treaty permits, the problem is not Pakistan’s objection. The problem is the design.

Nor does the clean-energy argument alter the law. Renewable energy is important, but it cannot erase Treaty limits. The Treaty already permits hydropower. It simply requires India to build and operate projects within agreed safeguards. Energy security cannot be achieved by converting a run-of-river exception into an upstream storage entitlement.

The renegotiation correspondence further weakens the claim that Pakistan refused engagement. India issued notices in 2023 and 2024 seeking review and modification under Article XII(3), later adding grounds such as demographics, clean energy, security and transitional provisions. Pakistan repeatedly said it was open to hearing India’s concerns, asked India to identify those concerns clearly, and emphasised that the Permanent Indus Commission was the proper initial forum for technical and Treaty-related engagement. Pakistan also made clear that openness to hear India could not be treated as automatic commencement of modification negotiations without a shared understanding of the grounds. It is legal discipline not an evasion.

The terrorism allegations are the most dangerous part of Saxena’s thesis. He invokes such allegations to argue that goodwill between Pakistan and India no longer exists. Pakistan has condemned terrorism and has rejected India’s allegations and their attempted linkage to a water treaty. The Preamble’s reference to goodwill and friendship is not a termination clause. If India believes a Treaty breach exists, Article IX gives it a mechanism. If it wants modification, Article XII(3) provides the route viz. a duly ratified treaty concluded by both governments. What India cannot do is convert unrelated security allegations into a unilateral licence to suspend water obligations. Calling abeyance “the right decision” does not create a legal power. Treaties are made precisely so that obligations survive political crises.

The Treaty has endured wars and crises because it is structured as law, not charity. It does not assume friendship. It creates obligations despite mistrust. It does not prohibit India from development. It regulates development where India has upstream control and Pakistan bears downstream risk. It gives Pakistan legal protection against interference with rivers on which its people depend.

That is the difference Saxena’s article misses. If every Treaty safeguard is described as unfairness, every Pakistani objection as obstruction, every arbitral proceeding as weaponisation, and every unilateral Indian step as legitimate self-correction, then law is replaced by upstream discretion. That is exactly what the Treaty was designed to avoid.

The Indus Waters Treaty was not an Indian subsidy to Pakistan. It was a settlement of competing rights and existential vulnerabilities. Pakistan’s position is therefore straightforward, honour the Treaty, share the data, allow inspections, resolve questions through the Commission and Article IX, and build only what the Treaty permits. That is not weaponisation. It is the rule of law.

* Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah is the Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters. He was writing in response to P.K. Saxena a former Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters. 

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Public trust remains the judiciary’s most valuable asset and must be earned through integrity, accountability and consistent conduct, said Chief Justice Tun Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh.

Drawing on the legacy of former Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi, he said institutional leaders must be prepared to make difficult decisions and work to leave behind stronger, more trusted institutions for future generations.

“Public trust is not inherited or assumed, but earned gradually through consistent conduct and integrity in judicial outcomes across every level of the court system.

“He (Tun Zaki) earned it, he protected it and he left this institution more worthy of it than he found it,” he said in his speech at the inaugural Tun Zaki Azmi Lecture titled ‘Leading with Courage, Stewarding Justice’ at the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) here today.

The nation’s top judge said that everyone entrusted with leadership responsibilities should recognise the value of their contributions, noting that decisions made behind the scenes, often under pressure and without recognition, play an important role in strengthening institutions.

“I want to say this to every person in this room who carries a responsibility, who has felt the weight of institutional leadership, who has asked themselves whether they are leaving things better than they found them: your work matters.

“The decisions you make in quiet rooms, under pressure, without applause, matter. And the wisdom you have built through those decisions is not yours alone to keep. It belongs to us. To this community. To the next generation of leaders who will inherit what we build here, and who deserve to inherit something worthy of their dedication,” he said.

Elaborating on the objectives of the lecture series, he said the Tun Zaki Lectures on Leadership and Stewardship and the Leadership and Stewardship Research Initiative were intended to promote meaningful dialogue on leadership and develop practical scholarship relevant to the realities of institutional leadership.

“The Tun Zaki Lectures on Leadership and Stewardship are not a ceremonial series. They are a serious, sustained effort to create a living dialogue between those who have led and those who are preparing to lead, to bring experience and principle into conversation with each other, in a space that takes both seriously.

“Meanwhile, the Leadership and Stewardship Research Initiative will do the longer, deeper work alongside it, building scholarship that is rigorous, honest, and directly relevant to the realities of leading institutions under pressure. Not theory for its own sake, but knowledge we can actually use and pass on,” he said.

The public lecture platform is named in recognition of the sixth Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Zaki Azmi, for his continuing contributions to leadership, stewardship and institutional responsibility, and serves as the founding platform for the Leadership and Stewardship Research Initiative.

The Leadership and Stewardship Initiative is a long-term platform dedicated to advancing leadership, stewardship, governance and public trust.

Founded on the belief that leadership lessons should be preserved and shared, the initiative seeks to capture the wisdom of distinguished leaders and transform it into lasting knowledge for future generations. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — A 67-year-old man was sentenced to 33 years’ jail and 14 strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court in Muar today after pleading guilty to rape and sexual assault involving two of his granddaughters, aged 12 and nine.

According to Harian Metro, judge Mohd Khairi Haron handed down the sentence after accepting the accused’s guilty plea to five charges.

The man, who has three children, was accused in the first and fourth charges of committing sexual assault against his 12-year-old granddaughter at a house in Batu Pahat.

The offences were framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, read together with Section 16 of the same Act.

For the second and third charges, he was accused of raping the same victim at the house between January and December last year, under Section 376(2)(d) of the Penal Code.

The fifth charge involved the sexual assault of another granddaughter, aged nine, at the same location last year.

Deputy public prosecutor Nur Ameerah Allaudeen prosecuted, while the accused was unrepresented.

The court also ordered him to undergo counselling while in prison and to be placed under police supervision for three years after completing his sentence, in line with Sections 26 and 27 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act.

PARIS, June 19 — Musicians this weekend will for the first time publicly interpret music for flute and harp that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote as a 22-year-old while teaching an aristocratic French student.

The unprecedented concert on Sunday at France’s National Library (BnF) comes after what it has called a “major discovery”.

Francois-Pierre Goy, a curator in the library’s music department, stumbled across the treasure as he examined a pile of anonymous manuscripts he wanted to get through before retirement.

“I never imagined what I was about to find,” he told AFP.

The 44-page notebook includes a dozen daily exercises the Austrian prodigy gave Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnieres de Guines from May to July 1778, as well as seven pieces for flute and harp, he said.

She was an excellent harpist and the daughter of the Duke of Guines, himself a renowned flutist.

“It just so happened that I had been looking at some of Mozart’s teaching material a few weeks earlier,” Goy said.

Soon he noticed similarities — including “the treble clefs that are quite rounded and tilted slightly forward”, and the bass clefs drawn in the opposite direction from how they usually are in France, he added.

“Could it be him?” Goy said he thought to himself.

Comparisons with Mozart’s other handwritten works, the French paper used, and stamps on the notebook identical to those on a French copy of Mozart’s “Concerto for Flute and Harp” that the Duke of Guines had commissioned all seemed to indicate he was right.

Armin Brinzing, director of the Austria-based Mozarteum Foundation, authenticated the document in April.

The manuscript “is part of two bundles of music that were confiscated from the home of the Duke of Guines in 1794” during the French Revolution, and eventually ended up at the BnF, according to the library.

Mozart died in 1791 aged 35.

Discoveries like this “for such a famous composer are almost unheard of”, said Mathias Auclair, director of the BnF’s music department.

Several Mozart compositions have been rediscovered in recent years.

In one case, in 2012, someone found a Mozart piano piece composed when he was 11 in an Austrian attic.

For harpists and flautists, who have “very little repertoire” available to them, the discovery at the BnF is a wonderful surprise, he said.

BnF president Gilles Pecout said the new music sheets shed light on Mozart as a young teacher and documented his last stay in Paris in 1778 — on which there is scant information. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Malaysia’s inflation increased 2.0 per cent in May 2026 with the index points rising to 137.1 from 134.4 versus a year ago, said the Statistics Department Malaysia (DOSM).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin highlighted four groups in a report in conjunction with the release of consumer price iIndex (CPI) for May 2026.

He said information and communication saw a rise to 2.1 per cent versus 2.0 per cent in April 2026.

Food and beverages, which contributed 29.8 per cent of the total CPI weightage, rose 1.4 per cent versus 1.2 per cent a month ago, he said

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose to 1.2 per cent versus 1.1 per cent in the previous month, and recreation, sport and culture, was at 1.1 per cent against 0.9 per cent perviously, contributed by inflation in the maintenance, repair and security of the dwellings subgroup.

DOSM also noted that the automatic fuel adjustment (AFA) revised rate was imposed on Peninsular Malaysia domestic users when consuming more than 600 kilowatt hours (kwh).

The Energy Commission set the AFA rate for May 1-31, 2026, at 1.38 sen/kwh (surcharge) compared with a 0.47 sen/kwh rebate for April 1-30, 2026.

“This adjustment impacted the average electricity tariff against the previous period. Domestic users consuming 600 kwh and below remained unaffected,” it added.

Elsewhere, transportation inflation moderated at 3.8 per cent versus 4.1 per cent in previous month; restaurant and accommodation services was 2.5 per cent, slightly down versus 2.6 per cent in April 2026.

Education inflation was 2.2 per cent versus 2.4 per cent in April 2026, and health was at 1.2 per cent compared with 1.4 per cent a month ago, the report said.

DOSM also said 63.5 per cent of items (364 out of 573 items) recorded price increases.

“Nonetheless, out of this total, 355 items (97.5 per cent) registered an increase of less than or equal to 10 per cent, while nine items recorded increases of more than 10 per cent in May,” DOSM said. 

The remaining 167 items (29.1 per cent) showed a decline and 42 items were unchanged.

In the area of fuel, May 2026’s average price of unleaded RON97 petrol fell to RM4.81 per litre versus RM5.06 the month before.

Diesel’s average price in Peninsular Malaysia was RM5.01 per litre versus RM5.92 in April 2026.

Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan’s average diesel price remained at RM2.15 per litre.

Unleaded RON95’s average market price was RM3.97 per litre against RM4.00 in April 2026. The subsidised price is RM1.99 a litre.

On state level inflation, Mohd Uzir said those that had increases above the national 2.0 per cent level were Pahang (2.8 per cent), Negeri Sembilan (2.6 per cent), Labuan (2.6 per cent), Johor (2.5 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (2.4 per cent), Kedah (2.2 per cent), Putrajaya (2.2 per cent) and Melaka (2.1 per cent).

The rest recorded increases below or equal to the national inflation rate with Sarawak at the lowest at 0.5 per cent in May 2026. — Bernama

SHAH ALAM, June 19 — The Selangor government will provide a 30 per cent rental reduction for hawkers and traders operating at Local Authority (PBT) premises under Phase Two of the Selangor Resilience Strengthening Package.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the initiative aims to help entrepreneurs sustain their businesses without passing increased operating costs on to consumers through higher food prices.

The rental reduction will be implemented for six months beginning this July.

“This assistance will benefit 21,234 traders with an allocation of RM4.5 million from the state government.

“The reduction will be granted automatically without requiring any application from traders,” he said when tabling the package at a special sitting of the Selangor Legislative Assembly today.

Amirudin said that under the same package, the state government will also introduce a three-month moratorium for 1,012 tenants of the Selangor Smart Sewa scheme beginning in October.

He said the moratorium will be coordinated by the Selangor Housing and Property Board (LPHS) based on tenant applications to ensure eligible participants continue to enjoy affordable rental rates of between RM450 and RM1,300 per month.

“To assist civil servants currently repaying housing loans under the State Government Housing Loan Scheme, this administration will also offer a three-month moratorium on repayments from October to December 2026.

“This assistance is expected to benefit 2,333 civil servants in Selangor, subject to applications,” he said.

Meanwhile, Amirudin said the state government is also encouraging the transition towards clean and sustainable energy by offering a 100 per cent assessment tax rebate for 2026 to homeowners who install green technology systems.

Eligible technologies include rooftop solar panels, rainwater harvesting systems, recycling facilities, food waste composting systems and electric vehicle charging units.

He said the initiative is expected to support Selangor’s long-term aspiration of becoming a carbon-neutral state.

“Each PBT will allocate funds ranging from RM100,000 to RM1.5 million respectively for district councils, municipal councils and city councils, with applications to be coordinated and simplified at the local authority level for the benefit of the people,” he said.

Phase Two of the Selangor Resilience Strengthening Package involves 15 initiatives worth RM209.26 million as part of the state government’s strategic response to global energy uncertainty linked to developments in West Asia.

Amirudin said the measures go beyond direct financial aid and focus on broader economic empowerment to ensure the benefits of state revenue are shared across all levels of society. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — The Immigration Department today said the actual number of refugees in Malaysia is believed to be higher than the roughly 200,000 individuals currently recorded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to Kosmo, Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the government is carrying out a comprehensive registration exercise involving all refugees in the country, including those without UNHCR cards.

“We are working to register all refugees in the country, whether they have UNHCR cards or not.

“We are no longer relying solely on data supplied by UNHCR because we believe their numbers are higher than the figure given to us,” he was quoted as saying.

Zakaria said this at a press conference after the passing-out parade for the 2026 Series 1 Basic Immigration and Higher Immigration Certificate courses at the Malaysian Immigration Academy in Port Dickson today.

Also present was Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Awang Alik Jeman.

Zakaria said UNHCR records currently show more than 200,000 refugee cardholders registered in Malaysia, involving individuals from more than 140 countries.

He added that the government-coordinated registration exercise, carried out through the National Security Council, is now in its first phase and will continue until the end of this year.

JOHOR BAHRU, June 19 — PKR and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) leadership will hold talks soon to resolve a dispute over the Puteri Wangsa state seat ahead of the Johor state election.

PKR secretary-general Datuk Fuziah Salleh said the matter has been sent up to the top leadership of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties for resolution.

“The issue has been handed over to the top leadership of the component parties to be resolved.

“The previous claim that the issue was resolved was made by Amanah, that maintained that the Puteri Wangsa seat belonged to them,” she told reporters during a Rahmah Madani programme at the Econsave Supermarket in Taman Daya here today.

Fuziah, who is also the deputy minister of domestic trade and cost of living, was commenting on the ongoing dispute between the two PH parties.

Yesterday, Amanah strongly objected to the Puteri Wangsa seat being handed over to PKR in the upcoming state election.

Johor Amanah vice-chairman Zuhan Zain reportedly said the party has never made any decision or agreement to hand over the seat to PKR.

He said Johor Amanah has made early preparations and has its machinery ready to reclaim and defend the Puteri Wangsa state seat.

The Puteri Wangsa seat has long been a point of contention within Johor PH and has become a power struggle between PKR and Amanah.

In the past, the seat was traditionally allocated to Amanah, but it was temporarily given to the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) during the 2022 Johor state election.

Following Muda’s split from PH, both PKR and Amanah have laid claim to the seat for the upcoming Johor polls.

The Election Commission has set nomination day for the Johor state election on June 27, with polling set for July 11, following the dissolution of the state legislative assembly on June 1.

The Johor state assembly has 56 seats. Prior to dissolution, Barisan Nasional held a supermajority of 40 seats, followed by PH with 12, Perikatan Nasional with three and Muda with one.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Malaysian scientists have discovered a new species of parasitic fungus in Borneo’s jungles that preys on “zombie fungus” that are known to infect insects before subjecting them to a gruesome death.

The new species was collected during multiple field trips conducted by the University of Malaysia Sabah’s Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation.

It was dubbed a “hyperparasite” because it “effectively parasitises the primary pathogen,” the institute’s Deputy Director Jaya Seelan Sathiya Seelan told AFP today.

“The fungus belongs to the genus Pleurocordyceps and acts as a specialised hyperparasite,” Seelan said.

The new species targets ants already infected by Ophiocordyceps, or “zombie fungus”, which manipulates the infected insect’s nervous system and makes it behave erratically before killing it and bursting from its carcass.

“Rather than manipulating the insect’s nervous system itself, Pleurocordyceps infiltrates and feeds directly on the thriving Ophiocordyceps tissue inside the host,” Seelan said.

Named after its unique, distinctly horn-shaped structure, Pleurocordyceps cornusynnemata was discovered after scientists studied a dead ant collected from the Danum Valley, a remote area in southern Sabah.

The discovery was also published in Phytotaxa, the leading journal in taxonomic botany, in April.

It is not the first hyperparasite of its kind, but “it is the world’s first known member of its genus to feature this highly distinct horn-shaped structure”, Seelan said.

During the field trips, scientists also discovered a new species of spider-killing fungus, which spreads spores through the arachnid before killing it.

“These newly documented fungi hold immense potential... both as sources for developing next-generation antimicrobial drugs and as highly effective biocontrol agents against agricultural pests,” Seelan said. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Former football stars Abbas Saad and Fandi Ahmad have tipped Germany as the dark horse of the World Cup, while warning that refereeing controversies and political distractions risk overshadowing the tournament itself.

Former Australian international turned pundit Abbas Saad, said the expanded tournament makes it harder than ever to predict a winner, but he believes only a handful of teams are genuine contenders.

“It’s very difficult, honestly,” he told Malay Mail when met.

“I broke it down into five teams — Spain, France, Germany, England and Argentina. Anybody from those five can win it.”

While France and Spain remain among the favourites, Abbas said Germany have quietly emerged as a serious threat.

“I think Germany is my dark horse,” he said.

“England is one of the favourites. You’ve got Spain, France, England and Argentina as the top four favourites but nobody is talking about Germany.”

Fandi agreed, saying Germany looked different from previous tournaments.

“Germany this year are different,” he said.

The Singaporean football legend noted that modern football had evolved significantly, with teams becoming fitter, pressing higher and transitioning faster than before.

“Most teams are high pressing now,” he said.

“The trend is tactical defensive football — absorb pressure and attack.”

Fandi also singled out Japan as one of Asia’s strongest hopes, praising their ability to break quickly from deep positions.

“They make runs from deep and they are all sprinters,” he said. 

“They’re very good counter-attacking teams.”

Abbas said Japan appeared the most likely Asian side to make a deep run, while South-east Asia still had some way to go before matching the continent’s elite.

Abbas Saad speaks to Malay Mail during the live telecast of the Fifa World Cup 2026 match between Mexico and Korea Republic at The Met Corporate Towers in Kuala Lumpur June 19, 2026. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin

“I’m hoping Japan will go far,” he said. “They’re probably capable of going the furthest from Asia.”

The pair also discussed a series of controversies that have surfaced during the tournament, ranging from refereeing decisions to allegations involving political symbolism by match officials and the much‑maligned hydration breaks.

Hydration breaks have been described as a deceptive way for advertisements to play during these pauses, and at some matches, despite the cool weather, match officials have been seen delaying the restart to allow the ads to fully play out on television.

The former stars questioned the widespread use of hydration breaks, arguing that stoppages can disrupt momentum and alter the flow of matches.

Abbas said it disrupts momentum, especially for teams on an attacking flow, while Fandi said it allows the opponents to recover, so it’s a double-edged sword.

“It could be an advantage for teams who are under pressure because they get a chance to recover and reorganise,” Abbas said.

Fandi agreed that such breaks should only be used when weather conditions genuinely warrant them.

“If you’re in Mexico and it’s 40 degrees, we can understand that but it was raining in Canada and they still took a drink break. It doesn’t make sense for me.”

Abbas said officiating remained one of football’s biggest variables.

“One bad officiating decision, a red card or a mistake can change the dynamics of the game,” he said.

Fandi Ahmad speaks to Malay Mail during the live telecast of the Fifa World Cup 2026 match between Mexico and Korea Republic at The Met Corporate Towers in Kuala Lumpur June 19, 2026. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin

As for Fandi, he lamented the growing presence of politics around the sport, citing incidents such as Iranian players being whisked straight back to their hotel after matches and the alleged white‑supremacist hand gesture made by video assistant referee Shaun Evans during one of the games.

Fifa have cleared Evans of any wrongdoing following an investigation, stating it found “no evidence” that one of the referees at the World Cup breached its code of conduct

“Isn’t it a shame that politics is involved in our sport?” said Fandi.

“This is the world game. This is supposed to bring the whole world together.”

“Whatever is happening outside football should stay outside football. Everybody should be treated with respect and integrity.”

The 2026 Fifa World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. 

For the first time, the World Cup will include 48 teams ― up from 32. 

KUCHING, June 19 — Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has called on the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) to take immediate action following the sighting of a large crocodile in the Sarawak River near the Masjid India floating mosque.

The Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts acknowledged the complex situation, noting the crocodile’s presence carries a dual nature.

“Well, we do know of the existence of the crocodiles in the Sarawak River, especially under the floating mosque.

“From one angle, we would say it’s good for tourism, however at the same time we have to be very careful as they are deemed as predators.

“I’ve seen them capturing and eating pigeons. That means crocodiles aren’t tame,” he told reporters after an event at Pustaka Negeri Sarawak here.

He called on SFC to intervene to manage the situation, adding that the corporation had previously conducted engagements in the area, successfully capturing and relocating crocodiles to a sanctuary in Matang.

“This is perhaps a new one, I know because before this SFC managed to capture a few. Perhaps they like to stay under the floating mosque,” he said.

A video of the reptile lurking in the waters close to the mosque has be widely circulated on social media, sparking public concern. — The Borneo Post

LONDON, June 19 — England’s emphatic World Cup victory over Croatia has given fans more than three points to celebrate — it may also have handed the Three Lions a brand-new anthem.

Moments after England’s entertaining 4-2 win in Dallas on Wednesday, thousands of supporters stayed behind to belt out Oasis’ 1995 classic Wonderwall, creating one of the tournament’s standout scenes so far.

The emotional singalong quickly went viral after BBC Sport shared footage showing England stars including Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon appearing visibly moved as they applauded supporters and joined in with the chorus.

The clip even caught the attention of Oasis themselves, with both the band’s official social media accounts and Liam Gallagher reposting the footage.

Now, the post-match moment has snowballed into something much bigger, with UK’s The Sun throwing its weight behind calls for Wonderwall to become England’s official anthem for the rest of the Fifa World Cup.

The campaign has already attracted support from former England captain Terry Butcher, the England Supporters Band and even the UK’s ambassador to the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“I’ve been with fans at eight World Cups but have never seen anything quite like that Wonderwall performance,” England Supporters Band leader John Hemmingham told The Sun.

“Every England fan in the stands joined in at the top of their voice and I saw even Harry and Jude joining in. It was quite a moment.”

The band is now rushing to add the Oasis favourite to its setlist ahead of England’s next group match against Ghana.

“Our biggest problem is that we don’t know Wonderwall — but don’t worry, we’re busy learning it for the next game and it’s going to be fantastic,” Hemmingham added.

“It’s a brilliant anthem and will carry us all the way to the final.”

Former England defender Terry Butcher is also firmly on board, declaring that Wonderwall deserves to replace Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, which has become a familiar soundtrack at England matches in recent years.

“Wonderwall is a great song,” he said.

“Everyone knows the words, and the fact it comes from Manchester, one of England’s most patriotic cities, makes it a perfect anthem.

“It sounded great when the fans were belting it out — and thankfully it isn’t Sweet Caroline!”

Jude Bellingham applauds England fans after the Fifa World Cup Group L match between England and Croatia in Dallas June 17, 2026. — AFP pic

According to The Sun, Noel and Liam Gallagher are said to be delighted their signature hit has become the soundtrack of England’s World Cup campaign.

A source close to the brothers said: “They’ve seen the clips and are thrilled. It never got to No. 1 and this could lead to it getting back in the charts.”

The football connection is perhaps unsurprising. Noel and Liam Gallagher have long been among Manchester City’s most famous supporters, with Oasis songs becoming staples at football stadiums across Britain over the years.

Although England has not adopted an official song for its 2026 World Cup campaign, supporters have revived several familiar terrace favourites, including Three Lions, Sweet Caroline and Gala’s Freed From Desire. The team’s goal music at this year’s tournament is Planet Funk’s Chase The Sun, another sporting favourite thanks to its popularity at darts events.

Whether Wonderwall officially becomes England’s anthem remains to be seen, but after one unforgettable night in Dallas, it is already proving to be the soundtrack of the Three Lions’ World Cup adventure.

England next face Ghana on Tuesday before rounding off the group stage against Panama.

BEIJING, June 19 — China called Britain’s jailing of two dual Chinese-British nationals for spying on behalf of Beijing “a classic political farce” today, urging the country to rectify its “erroneous actions”.

A British court jailed former UK Border Force official Peter Wai and retired Hong Kong policeman Bill Yuen yesterday after they were convicted of spying on Hong Kong dissidents in Britain on behalf of China.

Tens of thousands of people, including democracy activists wanted by Chinese authorities, have moved to Britain since Hong Kong enacted a strict national security law in mid-2020.

Beijing’s foreign ministry urged the UK today to “cease political manipulation against China”, when asked for a response to the men’s jailing.

“We once again urge the UK side to rectify its erroneous actions, cease political manipulation against China, and stop emboldening and backing anti-China elements who seek to destabilise Hong Kong,” the ministry said in a statement.

Wai, 40, was jailed for 10 years and Yuen, 65, was given an eight-year term for conducting “shadow policing” on British soil.

The court heard the pair targeted Hong Kong dissidents and pro-democracy protesters living in Britain, with “special attention” also paid to politicians, including Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the opposition Conservative party who has been critical of Beijing.

They carried out information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception, with one operation capturing photographs of prominent campaigner Nathan Law. — AFP

JOHOR BAHRU, June 19 — PKR will refer any legal considerations involving former Pandan MP Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and former Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad to its appointed legal team, while also passing a separate disciplinary matter involving Subang MP Wong Chen to the party’s disciplinary board.

PKR secretary-general Datuk Fuziah Salleh said any follow-up action involving Rafizi and Nik Nazmi, who have both left the party, will be handled by party lawyers.

“Both have already resigned and left the party. So, I will hand any issues over to the party’s legal team,” she told reporters today.

Fuziah, who is also the deputy minister of domestic trade and cost of living, was speaking at the Rahmah Madani programme held at the Econsave Supermarket in Taman Daya here today.

On Wong, she said a report involving the Subang MP has been submitted to the party’s disciplinary board.

She said this follows Wong’s earlier challenge for PKR to sack him after a disciplinary investigation was opened over his attendance at a Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) event.

Previously, Wong had openly challenged PKR to take stricter disciplinary action against him, including sacking him, after the party issued him a show-cause letter.

On May 17, Rafizi and Nik Nazmi resigned from their respective Pandan and Setiawangsa parliamentary seats after announcing their departure from PKR.

Following their exit, PKR is reported to be considering legal action under the anti-party hopping law, in addition to seeking a RM10 million bond from both individuals.

Rafizi and Nik Nazmi subsequently registered as ordinary members of the Malaysia United Party – now known as Bersama – on May 21.

BANGKOK, June 19 — A Thai court sentenced a man to 18 months in prison for royal defamation over a comment posted in a Facebook group discussing the monarchy, a rights group said today.

Thailand’s strict lese-majeste law shields the royal family from criticism, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison for each offence — punishments critics say are used to stifle dissent.

In the latest case, the Criminal Court sentenced a 43-year-old man to 18 months in prison over a comment he posted in the private Facebook group “Royalist Marketplace”, which has more than 2.2 million members.

The group, founded by exiled royal critic and scholar Pavin Chachavalpongpun, was created as a forum for discussing the monarchy — an unprecedented development in Thai society.

“The court initially sentenced him to three years, but because he confessed, the sentence was reduced by half,” Noppol Achamas, information officer at the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, told AFP.

The man, whose name was withheld to protect his privacy, was granted bail of 100,000 baht (RM12,522) while awaiting an appeal, Noppol said.

The Facebook group became active following the youth-led protest movement of 2020 and 2021, when demonstrators called for reforms to the monarchy and amendments to the royal defamation law.

But the movement later lost momentum as many activists faced lese-majeste and other criminal charges.

A total of 291 people have been charged under the royal insult law since 2020, according to TLHR data.

At least 17 have been prosecuted for comments posted in the “Royalist Marketplace” Facebook group. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — South Korean hit Colony continues its reign at the local box office, holding firmly onto the No. 1 spot for a fourth consecutive week.

Close behind is local horror film Khadam, which has emerged as one of Malaysia’s strongest box-office performers.

Starring Aghniny Haque, Datuk Remy Ishak and Siti Khadijah Halim, Khadam has enjoyed an impressive start, grossing RM2.6 million in just seven days.

Cinema audiences are also flocking to a diverse slate of new releases, including Steven Spielberg’s latest feature Disclosure Day, Kenji Tanigaki’s action-packed The Furious, and BTS World Tour ‘ARIRANG’ in Busan: Live Viewing.

Meanwhile, Netflix, Viu and Disney+ continue to draw viewers with popular series, including K-dramas The WONDERfools and Reborn Rookie.

From blockbuster films and binge-worthy series to music and books, there’s no shortage of entertainment to dive into this weekend.

Malay Mail rounds up the biggest entertainment highlights to keep readers informed, entertained and ready for the weekend.

Top 10 films in local cinemas (Domestic & International) (June 11 to 14)

1. Colony
2. Khadam
3. Disclosure Day
4. Polong
5. BTS World Tour ‘ARIRANG’ In Busan: Live Viewing
6. The Furious
7. Backrooms
8. Masters Of The Universe
9. 5 Bomoh
10. The Sheep Detectives

Source: Cinema.com and GSC

Top 10 streaming (June 8 to 14)

Netflix (Top 10 TV)

TV Series

1. Teach You a Lesson: Limited Series
2. Good Boys Go to Heaven: Season 1
3. Bapa Mentuaku Mafia: Season 1
4. Griya: Season 1
5. My Royal Nemesis: Limited Series
6. Viral Hit: Season 1
7. The WONDERfools: Limited Series
8. Jae-seok’s B&B Rules!: Season 1
9. The Witness: Limited Series
10. Ashes to Crown: Season 1

Source: Netflix Top 10

Viu (Top 10 shows)

1. Reborn Rookie
2. Running Man (2026)
3. Study Group
4. Bidadari Tanpa Syurga
5. Zhan Zhao Adventures
6. Aku Pilih Pelangi
7. Seadanya Kita
8. Taxi Driver 3
9. The Scarecrow
10. Unplanned Trip: Limited Edition

Source: Viu Frontpage

Disney+ (Top 10 shows)

1. Alice & Steve
2. Best of the World with Antoni Porowski
3. Doctor on the Edge
4. Not Suitable for Work
5. Tracker: Season 3
6. Celebrity Wheel of Fortune: Season 6
7. Get Real
8. The Flowers of Evil
9. Welcome to Wrexham: Season 5
10. Criminal Minds: Evolution: Season 19

Source: Disney+

Top 10 songs of the week (Spotify) (June 6 to 17)

1. Ariana Grande — hate that I made you love me
2. Katy Perry — The One That Got Away
3. Raim Laode — Iqro’
4. Bruno Mars — Risk It All
5. Justin Bieber — Beauty And A Beat (w/ Nicki Minaj)
6. Piche Kota — Bahagia Lagi
7. Ifan Seventeen — Jangan Paksa Rindu — Beda
8. Sal Priadi — Ada titik-titik di ujung doa
9. Nadhif Basalamah — kota ini tak sama tanpamu
10. Olivia Rodrigo — drop dead

Top 10 Malay songs of the week (Spotify) (June 6 to 17)

1. Adira Suhaimi — Sayang Orang Sama
2. Aufahanie — Butterfly
3. Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza, Ade Govinda — Menamakanmu Cinta
4. Alpha — P Ramlee Saloma
5. Zynakal, Zamir Harith, Mojack Hafiz, Bel Janni — Dalam Diam
6. Mojo — Romancinta
7. Hael Husaini, Nadeera — Peluk
8. Nadhif Basalamah, Aziz Harun, Aisha Retno — Kota ini tak sama tanpamu
9. Reedzwann — Suarasi Sering Salah
10. Wani Kayrie — Cak Cak Cekuk

Source: Kworb and Spotify

Top 10 books of the week (May 29 to June 4)

Fiction

1. The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
2. Strange Buildings by Uketsu (Pushkin Vertigo)
3. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (HarperCollins)
4. Strange Pictures by Uketsu (HarperVia)
5. As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
6. Strange Houses by Uketsu (HarperVia)
7. Before the Coffee Gets Cold #6: Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (HANOVER SQUARE PRESS US)
8. Meet Me at the Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
9. The Divorce by Freida McFadden (Poisoned Pen Press)
10. King of Gluttony by Ana Huang (Piatkus)

Non-Fiction

1. Atomic Habits by James Clear (Avery)
2. Surrounded by Idiots (10th Anniversary Edition) by Thomas Erikson (Macmillan Audio)
3. I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee (Penerbit Haru)
4. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie (Gallery Books)
5. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton (Harper)
6. Murdle #4: The School of Mystery by GT Karber (Souvenir Press Ltd)
7. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins (Hay House LLC)
8. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson (HarperOne)
9. The Art of Letting Go by Nick Trenton (NTCS Inc)
10. It’s Okay Not to Get Along with Everyone by Dancing Snail (Blink Publishing)

Mutiara Minda (Malay Novels)

1. Badass Wife Ungku Jabbar by Mia Azwari (Hash Novels Publication)
2. Thariq Ridzuwan Commando’s: His Treasure by Hudanajwa (Idea Kreatif)
3. Kaisar by Jiwa (Nukilan Biruni Publication)
4. Rubah Putih by Ramlee Awang Murshid (Buku Prima)
5. Mi Linda by Hudanajwa (Idea Kreatif)
6. Yes! Captain Zul Aaryan by Wnfhanna (Idea Kreatif)
7. Kaisar: Secret Chapter by Jiwa (Nukilan Biruni)
8. Mi Carino by Hudanajwa (Idea Kreatif)
9. Empayar: Hikayat Putera Tanpa Nama by Teme Abdullah (Iman Publication)
10. Rahsia Danny by Teme Abdullah (Iman Publication)

Source: MPH

SHAH ALAM, June 19 — The Selangor state government plans to expand its Selangor Advance (SA500) programme to support the cash flow needs of companies involved in state infrastructure projects, including those undertaken at the district and local authority levels.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the proposal, introduced under Phase Two of the Selangor Resilience Strengthening Package, comes amid challenges faced by companies in the logistics and manufacturing sectors due to rising prices of goods caused by disruptions in supply chains and sources of goods.

“Since its introduction during the Covid-19 pandemic, a total of 1,398 companies have benefited from Selangor Advance, which helps expedite payments through existing invoices and facilitates transactions between businesses.

“With an allocation of RM100 million, the initiative is expected to benefit 500 companies and contractors operating in Selangor,” he said while tabling the package at a special sitting of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly here today.

Introduced in the post-Covid-19 period, SA500 is a Shariah-compliant financing scheme based on the Tawarruq concept, designed to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) address cash-flow constraints.

Through the initiative, contractors and service providers can receive payment for completed works within a shorter timeframe, enabling businesses to maintain sufficient working capital to sustain their operations.

Amirudin said the state government will also introduce interest-free financing of up to RM10,000 for micro, small and medium entrepreneurs through a collaboration between Yayasan Hijrah Selangor (Hijrah) and Platform Selangor (PLATS).

The financing, with a repayment period of up to three years, will be channelled through Hijrah’s DANA PLUS digital application and is expected to benefit 2,000 registered entrepreneurs looking to start or expand their businesses.

“For entrepreneurs affected by global supply chain disruptions and declining business performance, the state government is also providing the option to restructure their loans through Hijrah.

“A total of 6,000 entrepreneurs with existing Hijrah financing may apply for restructuring without incurring additional interest or penalty charges to help ensure business continuity during these challenging times,” he said.

On support for agropreneurs, Amirudin said the state government has agreed to increase assistance for farmers and fishermen, benefiting 2,469 recipients through livestock feed vouchers, fertiliser assistance, fuel vouchers or cash aid ranging from RM300 to RM600, depending on harvesting seasons or on a monthly basis.

Additionally, 500 agropreneurs will be offered financing of up to RM10,000 per person, with financing costs to be fully borne by the state government to ensure the sustainability and long-term financial viability of industry players, enabling the sector to continue providing sustainable jobs and career opportunities in the long term.

Meanwhile, Amirudin said 30,000 job seekers in Selangor will also be involved in the Selangor Career Programme 2026, which will be organised more comprehensively, giving priority to those who have lost their jobs this year.

“Through collaboration with agencies such as the Social Security Organisation as well as companies in the retail, manufacturing and logistics sectors, the state government will work with stakeholders and displaced workers to match their skills with industries requiring similar expertise,” he said.

Earlier, Amirudin tabled Phase Two of the Selangor Resilience Strengthening Package, comprising 15 initiatives with a total allocation of RM209.26 million as a strategic measure to address the impact of the global supply crisis arising from the conflict in West Asia.

He said the package goes beyond direct financial assistance and includes broader economic empowerment measures to ensure the state’s resources and revenue can benefit the wider community. — Bernama