The previous king, Sultan Muhammad V, stepped aside this month following just two years on the throne after reports surfaced he had married the former Miss Moscow while on medical leave.

There was great shock across Malaysia at the first abdication of a monarch in the Muslim-majority country’s history.

Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, a keen athlete who holds a string of positions on sporting bodies, including at world football governing body FIFA, was elected as the new king during a special meeting of Malaysia’s Islamic royalty.

    Sultan Abdullah “has been chosen as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (king) for a period of five years starting from January 31, 2019,” said a statement from the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal, Syed Danial Syed Ahmad.

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement where the national throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the country’s nine states headed by Islamic royalty.

Eight of the state sultans earlier met at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur for the so-called “Conference of Rulers” to select the new king.

The only one absent was Muhammad V, who remains the sultan of the northeastern state of Kelantan despite having abdicated as the national monarch.

Abdullah was widely expected to become king as the central state of Pahang was next in line to provide the monarch

The 59-year-old was named Pahang’s new ruler — replacing his elderly, ailing father — several days after Muhammad V’s abdication, paving the way for him to become the next national monarch.

The deputy king was named as Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak state, according to the statement.

    – Command great respect –

As well as being a member of FIFA’s council — which lays out the vision for global football — he is president of the Asian Hockey Association and a former head of the Football Association of Malaysia.

After attending school in Malaysia, the keen polo player went on to study in Britain, where he attended the Sandhurst military academy, according to a biography published on Bernama.

After Pahang, the next state due to provide a king is Johor.

The sultan of Johor, which borders Singapore, is one of the country’s most wealthy and powerful Islamic rulers, and has his own private army.

To be elected as the national king, a sultan must be supported by at least five of the state rulers.

While their role is ceremonial, Malaysia’s royalty command great respect, especially from the country’s Muslim Malay majority, and criticising them is strictly forbidden.

Portraits of the king and queen adorn government buildings throughout the country. The king is also the symbolic head of Islam in the nation, as well as the nominal chief of the military.

Malaysia’s sultans trace a lineage back to the Malay sultanates of the 15th century. The king’s official title, Yang di-Pertuan Agong, means “He Who Is Made Lord”.

The US Senate prepared meanwhile Thursday to hold two showdown votes on measures to reopen the shuttered federal agencies, but Trump’s toxic sparring with House speaker Nancy Pelosi essentially assured no solution was at hand.

An intensifying war of words between the president and Pelosi came to a head Wednesday with the top Democrat effectively blocking Trump from delivering his annual address in Congress until the partial government shutdown, now in its 34th day, is brought to an end.

But in a tweet sent after 11:00 pm, Trump wrote, “As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed.”

    “She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative – I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.”

As acrimony in Washington grew, lawmakers across the political spectrum were left searching in vain for an exit strategy for the longest-ever halt to federal operations, as furloughed government employees and contractors vented their fury on Capitol Hill.

The prospects for Trump getting to deliver his national address in Congress next Tuesday as planned were dim, with the Senate votes — one on Trump’s proposal that includes money for his border wall and changes to immigration policy, the other by Democrats seeking to reopen government before negotiating border security — bound to fail.

Traditionally the president’s annual speech is delivered before a joint session of Congress in the ornate chamber of the House of Representatives.

In an effort to force the hand of Pelosi, who had already urged Trump to reschedule due to shutdown-related security shortcomings, the president wrote to her saying it would be “so very sad for our Country” if his speech could not be delivered on time and in the chamber.

Pelosi, who has become the face of Democratic opposition to Trump in Congress, pushed back, informing the president that the House would only agree to host him for his speech “when government has been opened.”

Trump now appears to have capitulated.

After his tweet late Wednesday agreeing to delay his speech, Pelosi tweeted back saying she hopes he agrees to a deal that opens the government.

    – ‘Will work for pay’ –

The shutdown, which has seen some 800,000 federal employees left without pay for a month, was triggered by Trump’s refusal to sign funding bills in December, in retaliation for Democratic opposition to funds for extending walls along the US-Mexico border.

With the closure of about one quarter of federal agencies affecting millions of Americans, hundreds of unpaid government workers used the power of protest to publicize their plight, holding a sit-in for hours at a congressional office building.

Some held up paper plates with messages including “Will work for pay.”

With no solution in sight, many were bracing for Friday, when they expect to miss their second paycheck in a row.

The House, now controlled by Democrats, has passed multiple bills that would open government, but the Republican-run Senate is aligned with Trump’s push for border wall funding.

The Senate votes have the potential to break the impasse, but since each requires 60 votes to advance in the 100-member chamber, their passage is unlikely.

With both sides locked in their positions, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the chamber “it’s time to make a deal.”

Even the Senate’s chaplain Barry Black took the rare step of weighing in, somberly intoning in his opening prayer Wednesday that “as some members of our armed forces seek sustenance at charity food pantries, and prepare to miss a second pay day, something has to give.”

Trump says he will not reopen government before his wall funding comes through.

Most Democrats oppose direct funds for wall construction, but some have begun publicly advocating for negotiating a solution that includes boosted border funding, including for border structures.

“Look, I think physical barriers are part of the solution,” congressman Steny Hoyer, the number two House Democrat, told Fox News.

“We want to make sure that people who come into the United States are authorized to do so,” he added. “We’re for border security and I think we can get there.”

Government shutdowns are a disruptive political ritual that have occurred in various administrations and are almost unique to the American system.

This one is the longest on record, and has left a broad swath of federal workers unpaid — among them airport security officers, FBI agents, museum workers and US Coast Guard personnel.

In a statement issued late on Wednesday night, Mindef said Corporal First Class (NS) Pang, 28, died at 8.45pm. The ministry also shed light on how the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) operationally ready national serviceman was injured.

Mindef said CFC (NS) Pang, an armament technician from the 268th Battalion Singapore Artillery, was carrying out repair works inside the Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer with two other SAF personnel last Saturday at the Waiouru Training Area in New Zealand.

“Unfortunately, CFC (NS) Pang sustained injuries when the gun barrel was lowered,” said the ministry.

The medical team tending to him included Dr Teo Li Tserng, chief of trauma and acute care surgery at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, who was flown in to assist the New Zealand medical team.

Mindef said CFC (NS) Pang died despite attempts to repair damaged organs and being put on artificial life support.

An independent Committee of Inquiry will be convened to investigate the circumstances leading to the incident. A press conference, to be chaired by the Chief of Defence Force, will be held on Thursday (Jan 24) to present the preliminary findings.

The SAF will be making arrangements to bring CFC (NS) Pang’s body back to Singapore. “The Ministry of Defence and the SAF extend their deepest condolences to the family of CFC (NS) Pang and will continue to render assistance and support in their time of loss,” said Mindef.

His parents, as well as his two elder brothers, arrived in Hamilton earlier this week, accompanied by SAF family liaison officers.

A post that appeared to have been written by one of his brothers on behalf of the family went up on late Wednesday night on the actor’s Instagram account. The post said the last few days had been a difficult time for the family.

“Every news that were brought upon us since his last op was devastating with little signs of hope on his recovery,” it read. “We all broke down when the medical team spoke to us that his condition is worsening and we should be prepared for the worst.

“We’re going to lose a brother. And my parents are going to lose their precious son whom is only 28.”

The post added: “Thus I seek everybody’s kind understanding that we are unable to comment further during these precarious time.”

Mediacorp actor Desmond Tan commented on the Instagram post: “Bro, you are an important chapter in all our lives. Nothing is wrong, just that you went ahead of us like you always do as a human and actor. We will see you in future.”

Several local artists, including Jayley Woo and Ya Hui, switched to black-and-white profile pictures on Instagram on Wednesday night.

In a heart-rending post, Woo wrote: “I’m not lucky enough to be your wife in this life. We must definitely get married in the next.”  Woo and Pang had never acknowledged their relationship in public but Woo said on Instagram after news of his death broke that they were waiting until they got married to go public.

Fellow actor Shane Pow wrote on his Instagram account: “It wasn’t enough being brothers with you this life. Let’s be brothers again next life. I love you my big brother.”

CFC (NS) Pang was taking part in an annual live-firing exercise called Thunder Warrior. He was on reservist duty.

He underwent abdominal surgery last Saturday evening, after the incident took place, and a planned follow-up operation was completed on Monday.

However, his condition worsened and he required additional surgery, which was completed on Tuesday just before midnight (Singapore time), said Mindef on Wednesday.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, in an update on Facebook on Wednesday, said that his condition was very serious and he needed artificial support for his lungs, kidneys and heart.

The actor, who started acting at age nine, had been due to start shooting Channel 8 romantic drama My One In A Million next month after Chinese New Year.

Exercise Thunder Warrior has been conducted since 1997. This year’s exercise takes place from Jan 5 to Feb 2, and involves more than 500 personnel from the 268th and 24th Battalions, Singapore Artillery.

Repair and maintenance work on the Howitzer, which entered service in 2003, is usually done in teams and supervised by a commander, said a former serviceman familiar with the platform. In combat, it is operated by a crew of four.

The Howitzer is no longer in production and is currently operated only by NS battalions, added the serviceman, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Next-Gen Howitzer high-mobility weapon system, operated by a three-man crew, is envisaged to be introduced from 2020.

There had been two other incidents that led to deaths in the past year.

In April 2018, Corporal First Class Dave Lee Han Xuan, 19, from the 1st Guards Battalion, died close to two weeks after being admitted to Changi General Hospital for heatstroke.

In November 2018, Corporal First Class Liu Kai, 22, died after a Bionix vehicle reversed into the Land Rover he was in. An Army-wide safety timeout was declared after the incident at Jalan Murai Training Area.

“He wasn’t Sala the player, he was Emi. He was one more, he was riding a bike, like when he was a boy,” Diego Solis, a former coach to Sala at San Martin in his teenage years, tells AFP.

Sala, missing since Monday after boarding a plane in France to head to Wales to link up with his new club Cardiff City in the Premier League, “went with his teammates to the pitch, with a ball, to run, to the bowling alley,” Solis recalls with a certain sadness.

In Progreso, a town of 3,000 residents in the province of Santa Fe, in northern Argentina, where Sala was known by everyone, family and friends are not yet ready to accept the worst.

“We still cannot take in the facts of what happened to him, I still have hope on my part,” Solis bravely maintains, daring to imagine a happy outcome to a seemingly tragic ordeal.

“For me, ‘Emi’ is out there, he will appear soon and come out on a pitch in the Premier League,” Solis hopes.

After excelling in French football with Nantes, the 28-year-old forward signed a contract on Saturday with Cardiff in a club record deal worth a reported 17 million euros ($19.3 million).

– An unselfish striker –

Sala, who came up against the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in Ligue 1, had been a selfless striker since his youth, fully committed to the team cause and not purely on the hunt for goals.

“He was caring, he wasn’t stubborn, he played for the team, he wasn’t bothered if he had to give it to a teammate,” recounts Solis, who coached him until Sala moved to Proyecto Crecer, an academy in the town of San Francisco, four hours north of the capital Buenos Aires.

At the academy, which has a partnership with Bordeaux, Sala stood out and a few years later, in 2011, he made the switch to Europe with the six-time French champions.

“Many who don’t know him are getting to know him now, unfortunately,” Solis says regretfully.

Yet none of that appears to matter much in Progreso, where residents are crossing their fingers in the belief that Sala could yet appear alive and well.

Sheltered by neighbours and friends, the striker’s family is holding out for good news, a wait that is largely consigned to inside the family home.

– ‘Going to appear soon’ –

“I would have liked the press not to be here because of what happened, but instead for a call-up to the Argentina national team,” says Martin Molteri, a friend of Sala’s dating back to when they played together as kids.

“For me there’s something more than hope. He’s going to appear soon and is going to be OK,” says Molteri, wearing a Bordeaux shirt he received as a gift from Sala.

Molteri saw Sala flourish and reach the professional ranks, albeit in Europe, far away from Progreso.

“I don’t know from where or how I know him, because I’ve known him for all his life,” he says as rain falls on the unassuming town.

“He’s a humble, kind person, who has extraordinary mental strength.”

“He is very selfless, he achieved everything based on effort,” explains Molteri, describing the Sala family as “very hard-working”.

Far removed from the spotlight that attaches itself to the big stars, Sala carved out a successful career path without going through the Argentine first division.

“He had very clear goals,” Molteri says. “He wanted to go far in football and succeeded.”

// EPA-EFE PHOTO

Activist cleared more than 5,529 wildlife traps made by illegal poachers from 2014 to 2018.

The national park is one of the largest in Indonesia, with diverse biodiversity and is one of the forest recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a world heritage site.

Now this forest is under threat from massive illegal logging and land clearing for palm oil plantations. Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil, made from the pulp of the palm fruit, followed closely by Malaysia.

// EPA-EFE PHOTO

Palm plantations have been built on land made from destroyed tropical rainforest, causing the death and displacement of many species, among them the critically endangered orangutan, rhino, Sumateran tiger and Sumateran elephant.

// EPA-EFE PHOTO

// EPA-EFE PHOTO

// EPA-EFE PHOTO

Floating objects have been found in the water, and police on the British island of Guernsey, which sits off the north coast of France, have warned the chances of the passengers surviving were “slim”.

As the air search resumed, Argentine media reported that Sala sent a final message before the plane disappeared from radar around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Guernsey on Monday night.

“I’m on a plane that looks like it’s going to fall apart, and I’m leaving for Cardiff,” the 28-year-old said in a WhatsApp audio message.

    “If in an hour and a half you have no news from me, I don’t know if they will send people to look for me, because they will not find me, you know… I’m so scared,” he added.

Sala, who signed with the Premier League club on Saturday from French Ligue 1 club Nantes for a reported fee of 17 million euros ($19.3 million), was flying to Cardiff on a single-engine Piper PA-46 Malibu aircraft.

A 15-hour search Tuesday covering 1,155 square miles (3,000 square-kilometre) in the Channel spotted “a number of floating objects in the water”, Guernsey police said.

On Wednesday, they said two planes had resumed searching a targeted area, including around the nearby island of Alderney, based on the theory that the plane might have landed on water and the occupants got into a life raft that was on board.

– ‘Fearing the worst’ –

In Sala’s Argentinian hometown of Progreso, his father Horacio told the press that as “the hours go by and I don’t know anything, it makes me fear the worst”.

Daniel Ribero, president of the San Martin Athletic Club in the town, told AFP: “These are hours of uncertainty, of much pain and much sadness, waiting for the good news that he is alive.”

But one of the rescuers searching for the missing plane admitted they were “fearing the worst”.

“The sea temperature is so cold at the moment,” John Fitzgerald, chief officer of Channel Islands Air Search, told AFP.

Guernsey police said: “We have found no signs of those on board. If they did land on the water, the chances of survival are at this stage, unfortunately, slim.”

The pilot had requested to lower his altitude shortly before air traffic control in neighbouring Jersey lost contact with the plane, they said.

French civil aviation authorities had confirmed Sala was on board. It is thought there was one other passenger on the aircraft.

The player’s mother, Mercedes, told Argentine television channel C5N that the plane belonged to Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman.

– Fans hold vigil –

Sala, who had been at Nantes since 2015 and had scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, had signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with relegation-threatened Cardiff subject to receiving international clearance.

Cardiff’s executive director Ken Choo said they were all “very shocked” at the news, saying they had expected Sala to arrive on Monday evening ahead of his first day with the team on Tuesday.

“We continue to pray for positive news,” he said.

Argentine football legend Diego Maradona said he was hoping the plane had simply gone astray.

“I hope it went to the wrong airport and we find him alive, that’s all,” he said in an audio message.

“It’s a terrible misfortune when such things happen.”

Cardiff called off Tuesday’s training session, and stunned supporters laid flowers and scarves outside the club’s stadium.

With his former teammates in shock, Nantes have postponed their French Cup tie against third-tier side Entente Sannois Saint-Gratien on Wednesday until Sunday.

Hundreds of fans gathered for a vigil in the western French city on Tuesday, placing flowers, scarves and flags on a fountain and chanting the striker’s name.

“I still have hope, he is a fighter,” Nantes president Waldemar Kita tweeted.

When he signed at Cardiff on Saturday, Sala — who also has Italian nationality — said in a statement: “I’m very happy to be here.

“It gives me great pleasure and I can’t wait to start training, meet my new team-mates and get down to work.”

His last post on Instagram showed him surrounded by Nantes players before leaving. “La ultima ciao (the last goodbye),” he wrote.

Sala began his career at Bordeaux in 2010 and had loan spells at other French clubs including Orleans, Niort and Caen.

He joined Nantes in 2015 for one million euros and had scored 42 Ligue 1 goals in three and a half seasons.

South Korea plans to conduct this year’s first artificial rain experiment over the Yellow Sea on Friday, as part of efforts to tackle fine dust pollution amid growing concerns over public health.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said Wednesday the experiment will be conducted in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and China on Friday morning, with a plane, boat and other devices mobilized to measure meteorological conditions.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said Wednesday the one-hour experiment will be conducted in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and China on Friday morning, with a plane, boat and other devices mobilized to measure meteorological conditions.

The KMA will carry out a cloud seeding experiment and observe changes in particles in the clouds. The Ministry of Environment will then analyze whether the artificially produced rain helps get rid of fine and ultrafine dust in the air.

In cloud seeding, chemicals such as silver iodide are injected into existing clouds to thicken them and increase the chance of rain or snowfall.

The government hopes the artificial rain will prove helpful in reducing pollution levels in the atmosphere. In the short term, however, officials from the KMA and the ministry admit that artificial rain cannot be a major solution to the fine dust problem due to a lack of technology.

“Through the experiment, we will explore possibilities. When data from the experiments pile up, we will be able to make use of the technology in reality. But we are not in the stage yet,” Joo Sang-won, director-general at National Institute of Meteorological Sciences.

South Korea is still in the early stages of accumulating data on artificial rain experiments.

Sixteen of the 42 government experiments conducted between 2010 and 2017 on inducing rain or snow in inland areas were successful. Due to technological limits, the increase in precipitation ranged from 0.1 to 1 milliliters per hour on average.

In late 2017, the KMA purchased a plane dedicated to cloud seeding at a cost of 16.2 billion won ($14.4 million). In 2018, it carried out 12 experiments using the plane. Artificial rain experiments on 15 occasions are planned for this year.

“The purpose of the artificial rain experiment is not to resolve the fine dust problem right away. It is part of the government’s efforts to try everything we can to tackle the problem. We hope that we continue to accumulate relevant data and technology so that in the long term we are able to generate 10 millimeters of rain or snow (per hour),” said Yoo Je-chul, deputy minister of the Living Environment Policy Office at the Environment Ministry.

Some 37 countries around the world are carrying out artificial rain experiments in order to resolve droughts, secure water resources, prevent hail and fight air pollution.

However, the impact of artificial rain on dust reduction or broader weather patterns is not yet known. Some pointed out that the humidity caused by cloud seeding could enlarge dust particles, therefore worsening the pollution. There are also environmental questions over the use of silver iodide.

They expect a drop of as much as 10% compared to the same period last year. Much of it is due to changing of travelling trends and stiff competition from regional destinations.

Malaysian Tourist Guides Council president Jimmy Leong Wie Kong said the drop was not surprising considering the lack of promotion and marketing.

“The cut in the Tourism Ministry’s promotion and marketing budget is a big factor.

“We can’t deny that we will not be able to maintain the numbers that we have enjoyed over the past few years,” he said.

Leong said some Chinese tourists who had visited Malaysia before might opt to travel to those countries, especially the ones that offer visa-free entry.

“They will only consider visiting Malaysia again if the other regional destinations are fully booked,” he said.

Leong said new strategies were needed to tackle changes in travelling trends brought about by the emergence of online booking apps and e-hailing.

He said the previous zero-cost tours for Chinese tourists were now less attractive and deemed negative for the industry.

“Some states have put their foot down on zero-cost tours because of complaints received from Chinese tourists that they were fleeced by operators.

“Nowadays, dissatisfied tourists post their complaints on social media and this has given our country a bad image,” he said.

Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association president Uzaidi Udanis said the industry was becoming more competitive but the drop in the arrivals from China would not be too significant.

“We received about 250,000 Chinese tourists during the Chinese New Year holiday period last year.

“There will be a slight decrease this time around and this is expected because of the change in travelling trends among the 150 million Chinese passport holders who are now eyeing other regional destinations.

“They are shifting their focus to other destinations such as Thailand and Indonesia which are offering visa-free entry,” he said, adding that some 12 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand last year.

Uzaidi also said the era of Chinese tourists travelling in large tour groups was on the decline.

He said they tended to travel individually, with families or in smaller groups.

“This is because of the availability of online flight and hotel booking apps, including the convenience of using e-hailing for ground travelling,” he said.

Uzaidi said the introduction of free visas for specific periods would help boost the number of Chinese tourist arrivals.

According to the Chinese media, the provincial investigative team announced the results of its preliminary investigation on Monday, concluding that He had raised funds on his own and organized a project involving researchers from outside mainland China from June 2016 to research human gene editing for reproductive purposes.

The research was conducted between March 2017 and November 2018 on eight volunteer couples in which the husbands had contracted HIV. Two women eventually conceived babies from the genome-edited eggs. One of the women gave birth to twin girls, while the other is still pregnant. An ethical review certificate needed to approve the research had been fabricated.

A source from the investigative team reportedly told Xinhua that He’s research seriously violated relevant Chinese regulations and generated adverse effects at home and abroad.

He, others involved and participant organizations will be dealt with in line with laws and regulations, the source said.

The media also reported that public security authorities will be in charge of probing the case to determine the legality of his action.

As to the twins and the pregnant woman, the Guangdong Provincial government expressed an intention to conduct medical observations and follow-up inspections on them in cooperation with a relevant organization.

In response to the investigation, SUSTech released a statement on Monday saying that the university would sever its professional ties with He.

If the investigation’s findings reported by Xinhua are accurate, it would mean that the twins are the world’s first gene-edited babies. The findings prompted criticism from biologists in Japan.

“It’s completely irresponsible of a scientist to conduct research without thoroughly reviewing ethical issues,” said Yoichi Matsubara, director of the Research Institute of the National Center for Child Health and Development.

Hokkaido University Prof. Tetsuya Ishii, a bioethics specialist, said: “Gene editing could result in the birth of babies with congenital abnormalities. It’s also problematic from a human rights perspective to conduct such research based only on the consent of parents without regard for the child’s will.”

He reportedly altered genes during the external fertilization process to prevent the babies from contracting HIV.

Genome editing enables researchers to efficiently alter genes, though it is feared that non-targeted genes could also be altered by accident. The effects of genetically modifying a fertilized egg can affect not only children but also their offspring. The technology can also engineer the birth of “designer babies” that possess abilities and physical characteristics desired by parents.

In Europe, genetically modifying fertilized eggs for the purpose of pregnancy and childbirth is illegal. This spring, the Japanese government plans to issue guidelines banning the transfer of genetically edited fertilized eggs into a woman’s uterus. The ban applies to clinical research into gene therapy and basic research that can support reproductive technology but does not apply to medical practices.

“The guidelines have no penalties and have limitations. It’s also important to warn parents not to carelessly participate in risky medical procedures,” Ishii said.