Malaysia widens probe into ‘horror’ care home child abuse

Malaysia widens probe into ‘horror’ care home child abuse
Malaysian police have said the homes were run by Islamic business organization Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB), which has denied any wrongdoing and said in a statement it did not manage the homes. (AFP)
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Updated 13 September 2024
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Malaysia widens probe into ‘horror’ care home child abuse

Malaysia widens probe into ‘horror’ care home child abuse
  • Investigators stormed 20 charity shelters across two Malaysian states on Wednesday, arresting 171 suspects including religious studies teachers and caregivers, and bringing to safety 400 children

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police expanded their probe Friday into a major Muslim company with links to a banned sect, after hundreds of children were rescued from alleged abuse at care homes believed to be run by the group.
Investigators stormed 20 charity shelters across two Malaysian states on Wednesday, arresting 171 suspects including religious studies teachers and caregivers, and bringing to safety 400 children.
In what is believed to be the worst such case to hit Malaysia in decades, police suspect the victims — aged from one to 17 — had been subjected to sexual and physical attacks.
They were also allegedly forced by the care home staff to abuse each other.
Investigators were “working toward” further raids and arrests as the probe on the organization called Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB) continues, said police inspector-general Razarudin Husain.
Investigations and health checks so far show that at least 13 minors had been sexually abused, Razarudin said at a press conference.
The children, who are temporarily being housed in a police training center in Kuala Lumpur among other locations, are still undergoing medical examinations, added the police chief.
Razarudin had said on Wednesday that children as young as five were burnt with hot spoons, while others who were ill were not allowed to seek treatment until their condition became critical.
“The caretakers also touched the children’s bodies as if to carry out medical checks,” he said.
GISB has denied the allegations and said they do not run the care homes raided in the states of Selangor and Negri Sembilan.
“It is not our policy to do things that go against Islam, and the laws,” the group said in a statement this week.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he has urged relevant authorities to “investigate thoroughly” without delay.
“This concerns the faith of the community. It is important and a serious matter, involving abuse of power, misuse of religion,” he told reporters after performing Friday prayers.
Multi-ethnic Malaysia has a dual-track legal system, with Muslims subject to sharia (Islamic law) in certain areas.
GISB has long been controversial for its links to the now-defunct Al-Arqam sect and has faced scrutiny by religious authorities in the Muslim-majority country.
Al-Arqam was banned by the authorities in 1994 for deviant teachings, while GISB members had in 2011 set up an “Obedient Wives Club” that called on women to be “whores in bed” to stop their husbands from straying.
According to its website, GISB runs businesses from supermarkets to restaurants, and operates in several countries including Indonesia, France and the United Kingdom.
Police believe the minors in the care homes were all children of GISB members.
“We believe that all 402 children are fathered by GISB members. That’s our suspicion at the moment,” Razarudin told AFP on Thursday.
“We feel that there’s a need for DNA samples to be taken.”
Religious authorities in Selangor state said this week they were closely monitoring GISB’s activities.
“(We) remain vigilant about any facts leading to deviations from true Islamic teachings,” they said.
The United Nations children’s agency underlined the “unimaginable horror” faced by the victims.
The children “will need long-term professional medical and psychosocial support,” said Robert Gass, UNICEF’s Malaysia representative.
The case has also rattled locals.
“This incident is very shocking and sudden,” said Uzair Abdul Aziz, 37, a Selangor resident.


Trump unveils first $5 million ‘gold card’ visa

Trump unveils first $5 million ‘gold card’ visa
Updated 9 sec ago
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Trump unveils first $5 million ‘gold card’ visa

Trump unveils first $5 million ‘gold card’ visa
  • Republican president tells reporters that the special visa would probably be available ‘in less than two weeks’
  • Trump said that sales of the new visa would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US deficit
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump unveiled the first “gold card,” a residency permit sold for $5 million each, aboard Air Force One on Thursday.
Holding a prototype that bore his face and an inscription “The Trump Card,” the Republican president told reporters that the special visa would probably be available “in less than two weeks.”
“I’m the first buyer,” he said. “Pretty exciting, huh?”
Trump previously said that sales of the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US national deficit.
The billionaire former real estate tycoon, who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants a priority for his second term, said the new card would be a route to highly prized US citizenship.
He said in February that his administration hoped to sell “maybe a million” of the cards and did not rule out that Russian oligarchs may be eligible.

Trump is looking forward to Azerbaijan and Armenia signing a peace treaty, US diplomat says

Trump is looking forward to Azerbaijan and Armenia signing a peace treaty, US diplomat says
Updated 27 min 24 sec ago
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Trump is looking forward to Azerbaijan and Armenia signing a peace treaty, US diplomat says

Trump is looking forward to Azerbaijan and Armenia signing a peace treaty, US diplomat says
  • Armenia and Azerbaijan said last month that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end almost four decades of conflict
  • Fighting over Karabakh, which is part of mostly Muslim Azerbaijan but had until 2023 a heavily Armenian Christian population, broke out in the late 1980s

BAKU: US President Donald Trump is looking forward to Azerbaijan and Armenia signing a long-awaited peace treaty, Eric Jacobs, a senior adviser of the State Bureau of Energy Resources of the US Department of State, said on Friday.
Speaking at an energy event in Baku, Jacobs said the peace treaty would usher in “a new era of security and prosperity” for the South Caucasus region.
Armenia and Azerbaijan said last month that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end almost four decades of conflict between the two countries over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Fighting over Karabakh, which is part of mostly Muslim Azerbaijan but had until 2023 a heavily Armenian Christian population, broke out in the late 1980s, when both countries were part of the collapsing Soviet Union.
The territory gained de facto independence from Azerbaijan with Armenian support through a series of wars, but was ultimately retaken by Azerbaijan in September 2023, in a military offensive that prompted almost all of its 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee.
Since then, the two countries have both said they want a peace deal, but talks have been fitful and progress slow until a sudden breakthrough last month.
The peace deal is still not expected to be signed quickly though as Azerbaijan is demanding that Armenia first change its constitution to remove what Baku says are references to Karabakh independence.
Since the draft deal was agreed, both Armenia and Azerbaijan have also accused each other of firing on positions along the two countries’ closed and heavily militarized border. No casualties have been reported in the incidents.


EU leaders hold their first summit with Central Asian states

EU leaders hold their first summit with Central Asian states
Updated 41 min 31 sec ago
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EU leaders hold their first summit with Central Asian states

EU leaders hold their first summit with Central Asian states
  • The EU strategy on Central Asia emphasizes Central Asia’s growing strategic importance and aims to foster a stronger partnership

The leaders of the European Union and five Central Asian countries held their first summit on Friday to discuss ways to boost trade and other ties.
The summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan is attended by European Council President António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Costa declared that “the European Union is eager to build a mutually beneficial partnership with Central Asia, one that goes beyond expectations.”
Von der Leyen said that the summit is set to “deepen trade ties and expand cooperation in transport, critical raw materials, digital connectivity, water and energy.”
The EU strategy on Central Asia emphasizes Central Asia’s growing strategic importance and aims to foster a stronger partnership with the countries of the region.
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that during the past seven years trade between Central Asian and EU countries has increased to 54 billion euros ($60 billion), adding that the summit “should become the starting point of a new stage in the development of multi-faceted relations.”


Danish leader tells the US ‘you cannot annex another country’ as she visits Greenland

Danish leader tells the US ‘you cannot annex another country’ as she visits Greenland
Updated 43 min 18 sec ago
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Danish leader tells the US ‘you cannot annex another country’ as she visits Greenland

Danish leader tells the US ‘you cannot annex another country’ as she visits Greenland
  • Danish leader: ‘If we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening’
  • ‘This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security’

NUUK, Greenland: Denmark’s prime minister is wrapping up a three-day visit to Greenland on Friday after telling the US “you cannot annex another country,” even with the argument that international security is at stake.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen traveled to the strategically critical Arctic island as US President Donald Trump seeks control of Greenland. He argues that Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, is critical to US security.
A week ago, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote US military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory.
Frederiksen pushed back against the US criticism as she spoke on Thursday alongside Greenland’s incoming and outgoing leaders. She argued that Denmark, a NATO ally, has been a reliable friend.
Speaking in English, she said that “if we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening.”
“When you ask our businesses to invest in the US, they do. When you ask us to spend more on our defense, we do; and when you ask of us to strengthen security in the Arctic, we are on the same page,” she said.
“But when you demand to take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark’s territory, when we are met by pressure and by threats from our closest ally, what are we to believe in about the country that we have admired for so many years?”
“This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security,” Frederiksen said.
The Danish leader said that, if the US wants to strengthen security in the Arctic, “let us do so together.”
Political parties in Greenland, which has been leaning toward eventual independence from Denmark for years, last week agreed to form a broad-based new coalition government in the face of Trump’s designs on the territory. Those have angered many in Greenland and Denmark.
In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, Vance repeated the accusation that Denmark has “really underinvested in the infrastructure and security of Greenland.”
He said Trump’s point is that “this matters to our security, this matters to our missile defense, and we’re going to protect America’s interests come hell or high water.”


Russia accused by Britain and France of delaying ceasefire talks, say Putin 'owes' the US an answer

Russia accused by Britain and France of delaying ceasefire talks, say Putin 'owes' the US an answer
Updated 04 April 2025
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Russia accused by Britain and France of delaying ceasefire talks, say Putin 'owes' the US an answer

Russia accused by Britain and France of delaying ceasefire talks, say Putin 'owes' the US an answer
  • Britain and France are helping to lead a multinational effort known as the “coalition of the willing” to set up a force to police any future peace in Ukraine

BRUSSELS: Britain and France on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks to bring a halt to fighting in Ukraine and ramped up pressure on Moscow by insisting that he owes the United States an immediate answer.
Russia has effectively rejected a US proposal for a full and immediate 30-day halt in the fighting after a Kremlin official said on Monday that Moscow views efforts to end its three-year war with Ukraine as “a drawn-out process.”
“Our judgment is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at NATO headquarters, standing alongside his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in a symbolic show of unity.
Britain and France are helping to lead a multinational effort known as the “coalition of the willing” to set up a force to police any future peace in Ukraine.
Lammy said that while Putin should be accepting a ceasefire, “he continues to bombard Ukraine. It’s civilian population. It’s energy supplies. We see you, Vladimir Putin. We know what you are doing.”
Barrot said that Ukraine had accepted ceasefire terms three weeks ago, and that Russia now “owes an answer to the United States.” US President Donald Trump has expressed frustration with Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky after he promised last year to bring the war to a swift conclusion.
“Russia has been flip-flopping, continuing its strikes on energy infrastructure, continuing its war crimes,” Barrot said. “It has to be ‘yes.’ It has to be ‘no.’ It has to be a quick answer.”
He said that Russia shows no intention of halting its military campaign, noting that Putin on Monday ordered a call-up intended to draft 160,000 conscripts for a one-year tour of compulsory military service.
The two foreign ministers pledged to continue helping to build up Ukraine’s armed forces – the country’s best security guarantee since the US took any prospect of NATO membership off the table.
Coalition army chiefs were due to meet in Kyiv on Friday. Defense ministers from the group will meet at NATO headquarters next Thursday.