How 1MDB finally caught up with Najib Razak
Updated 0349 GMT (1149 HKT) February 11, 2019
On Tuesday, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will appear in court -- facing years in prison if convicted on corruption charges which seemed impossible less than a year ago.
The son and nephew of former prime ministers, scion of the Malay elite and head of the all-powerful United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which has dominated Malaysian politics since the country's independence, Najib's downfall is as staggering as the scale of the corruption he has been accused of.
Even after the scandal over 1MDB -- the sovereign wealth fund Najib set up and allegedly helped embezzle billions of dollars from -- erupted worldwide, the idea of Malaysia prosecuting its former leader still seemed like fantasy. Najib was the "Teflon prime minister," and almost all observers expected him to weather the storm.
Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'
Exclusive: Insects could vanish within a century at current rate of decline, says global review
The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review.
More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century.
The planet is at the start of a sixth mass extinction in its history, with huge losses already reported in larger animals that are easier to study. But insects are by far the most varied and abundant animals, outweighing humanity by 17 times. They are “essential” for the proper functioning of all ecosystems, the researchers say, as food for other creatures, pollinators and recyclers of nutrients.
James Matthews: Former British soldier who fought against Isis attacks 'incoherent' terror charge
Jim Matthews was prosecuted for fighting with a group backed by the British military
Lizzie DeardenHome Affairs Correspondent
A former British Army soldier who was charged with terror offences after fighting against Isis in Syria has attacked authorities’ “incoherent” approach to volunteers who risked their lives.
Jim Matthews was the first person prosecuted for fighting with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) after dozens of British supporters joined their cause.
He told The Independent of his shock at being charged with a terror offence, two years after being arrested while arriving back in the UK.
Opinion: The revolution in Iran that became a nightmare
40 years after the Islamic Revolution, the regime in Iran appears to be firmly in the saddle, thanks to its effective use of violence and censorship, but it may not continue like this for long, says Jamshid Barzegar.
40 years ago, when the Islamic Revolution successfully deposed Iran's last monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, I was only seven years old. But age didn't stop me from becoming part of the demonstrations back then. My family, more precisely the part of the family that supported the revolution, took me to some of them. Our family, like many others in Iran at the time, was split into two camps: a majority against the Shah and a minority against the revolution.
In the first few months, political discussions at home and on the streets were still part of everyday life. At school we had to line up to chant slogans praising Ayatollah Khomeini and his allies, but on the streets there were times when the revolution's opponents rounded us up and made us shout critical remarks against the clergy that had come to power. At home, we children were soon warned to be careful and to stay out of trouble.
HOW THE U.S. WEAPONIZED THE BORDER WALL
MIGRANTS DIE AND DISAPPEAR in staggeringly high numbers along the U.S.-Mexico border, as Washington over the years has shut down relatively safe, traditional urban entry points, forcing border crossers into hostile desert terrain. Migrants also sustain severe life-threatening or crippling injuries. They fall into mine shafts and break their backs. Dehydration damages their kidneys. Others are bitten by snakes or injured in chases. The tall metal fences that run as barriers along segments of the border also serve as weapons. Migrants sever limbs climbing the barriers and break bones falling off them.
“Border-related trauma is so common,” anthropologist Ieva Jusionyte writes, “that it has become normalized.”
Blackface isn’t just about the racism in America’s past. It’s also about the racism in America’s present.
A bigger conversation about blackface’s history and its continued use is finally beginning to unfold.
By
In the past few years, most high-profile blackface incidents have largely been confined to college campuses, ill-advised Halloween costumes, and bizarre television sketches. But over the past week in Virginia, several officials have come under increasing scrutiny for blackface scandals.
It’s sparked a full-on crisis over the state’s leadership — and fueled a larger debate over a racist practice that has long existed and continues to occur.
Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, came under fire in early February after a conservative outlet reported that a photo of two men, one in blackface, the other wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit, was prominently featured on Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook page. Northam initially apologized and said that he was one of the people in the photo, only to reverse course and deny any involvement a day later. He then bizarrely acknowledged another incident in 1984 where he wore blackface, putting shoe polish on his face to portray Michael Jackson in a dance contest.
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