Korean leaders meet to salvage Trump-Kim summit

Yahoo – AFP, Jerome Taylor and Park Chan-kyong, May 27, 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Moon Jae-in met in the border
truce village where they held their first summit last month (AFP Photo/Handout)

North and South Korea's leaders held surprise talks on Saturday to get a historic summit between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump back on track after a head-spinning series of twists and turns.

The meeting is the latest remarkable diplomatic chapter in a roller coaster of developments on the Korean peninsula.

Trump rattled the region on Thursday by cancelling his meeting with Kim which had been due to take place in Singapore on June 12, citing "open hostility" from Pyongyang.

But within 24 hours he reversed course saying it could still go ahead after productive talks were held with North Korean officials.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with Kim Saturday for two hours in the truce village of Panmunjom in an effort to ensure the landmark meeting between Trump and the North Korean leader goes ahead.

"They exchanged views and discussed ways to implement the Panmunjom Declaration and to ensure a successful US North Korea summit," Seoul's presidential Blue House said in a statement, referencing a declaration the two leaders signed last month vowing to improve ties following their historic first meeting in the same village.

Pictures showed them shaking hands and embracing on the North Korean side of the Demilitarised Zone separating the two nations.

The North's state-run KCNA news agency said the two leaders agreed to "meet frequently in the future to make dialogue brisk and pool wisdom and efforts, expressing their stand to make joint efforts for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".

Specifically, Moon and Kim will hold "high-level talks" on Friday, the agency added.

Kim also "expressed his fixed will on the historic DPRK-US summit talks," KCNA added, using the official abbreviation for North Korea.

Key meetings between North Korea, South Korea, China and the United 

States (AFP Photo/john saeki)

Remarkable detente

Trump's original decision to abandon the historic summit blindsided South Korea which had been brokering a remarkable detente between Washington and Pyongyang.

However, there was a further signal from the US Saturday the June 12 summit may yet go ahead as the White House said it would send a team to Singapore to prepare for the meeting.

"The White House pre-advance team for Singapore will leave as scheduled in order to prepare should the summit take place," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.

Last year Trump and Kim were trading war threats and insults after Pyongyang tested its most powerful nuclear bomb to date and launched test missiles it said were capable of reaching the United States.

Tensions were calmed after Kim extended an olive branch by offering to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, sparking a sudden detente that led to Trump agreeing to hold direct talks with Pyongyang.

Moon won election last year partly by vowing to be open to dialogue with Pyongyang and finding a solution to a Cold War-era sore that continues to blight the region.

But the flurry of diplomatic backslapping and bonhomie disappeared in recent weeks as the summit was thrown into doubt by increasingly bellicose rhetoric from both top US administration officials and Pyongyang.

Trump eventually pulled the plug on talks in a personal letter to Kim on Thursday.

But he left the door open to future meetings and Pyongyang responded by saying it was willing to sit down "at any time", prompting Trump to reply that the Singapore summit could still take place.

Saturday's meeting between Moon and Kim took place in a grand building on the North Korean side of Panmunjom, a heavily fortified village that lies between the two countries and marks the spot where the armistice ending the Korean War in 1953 was signed.

The surprise meeting comes a day after US President Donald Trump said his 

summit with Kim Jong Un might go ahead after all (AFP Photo/Handout)

Only last month the two leaders met in the same village, with Kim famously inviting Moon to step briefly into the North before they both held talks in a building on the South's side.

Koh Yu-hwan, an expert on Korean relations at Dongguk University, said Saturday's meeting between Moon and Kim increased the likelihood of the Singapore summit taking place as originally intended.

"Today's summit is aimed at resolving the misunderstanding caused by communication glitches between Washington and Pyongyang and lay the groundwork for the US-North Korea summit," he told AFP.

Adam Mount, a nuclear policy expert at the Federation of American Scientists, said it was a "bold but risky" move by Moon, describing the sudden summit as "a clear demonstration of how dangerous Trump's temper tantrum was".

"Trump says 'everybody plays games'. Moon Jae-in is not playing a game: he must keep his people safe from war," he wrote on Twitter.

Utmost secrecy

Unlike last month's summit, which was held in front of live TV cameras, Saturday's meeting took place in utmost secrecy, with reporters only being told later that the face-to-face had taken place.

Footage released by the Blue House on Twitter, accompanied by a dramatic orchestral score, showed Moon arriving in a convoy of cars and first shaking hands with Kim's sister Kim Yo Jong, who has played a major public role in recent talks with the South, including leading a delegation across the border during February's Winter Olympics.

Saturday's talks were only the fourth time serving leaders of the two Koreas, who remain technically at war, have ever met.

Graft-busting journalist returns to new Malaysia

Yahoo – AFP, Dan Martin, May 21, 2018

British journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown has been a thorn in the side of
Malaysia's ruling elite for years (AFP Photo/Mohd RASFAN)

Clare Rewcastle Brown was harassed and vilified for years for waging a quixotic campaign to expose Malaysian corruption that helped topple the country's long-ruling regime.

The British investigative journalist is now back in the country of her birth after being blacklisted for years, and being treated as a celebrity in a sign of the whirlwind changes since historic May 9 elections.

No one is more stunned than Rewcastle, who said she expects to see further startling revelations of corruption and misrule emerge as a reformist administration cleans house.

"There is so much that’s going to come tumbling out now," she said during an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

"Everyone is gob-smacked as they see these things happening. There are going to be more amazing scenes to come."

Rewcastle, now 58, has been a thorn in the side of Malaysia's ruling elite for years, working from abroad to expose larceny and misrule centring mostly on the rainforested state of Sarawak where she was born and spent her early years.

But her biggest bombshell may have been the 2015 revelation by her website Sarawak Report that nearly $700 million was funnelled into the bank account of ex-premier Najib Razak.

That helped super-charge allegations that Najib and his entourage plundered billions from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, in a scandal that led to his electoral defeat, ending six decades under an increasingly corrupt government.

He is now under investigation and expected to be charged.

Smear campaign

Rewcastle's work over the years triggered Malaysian arrest warrants, lawsuits, threats, and a sustained campaign of online vilification that she suspects was orchestrated by Najib's government using western PR firms.

The sister-in-law of former British prime minister Gordon Brown, Rewcastle was still recently being approached by shadowy characters offering pay-offs if she'd publish juicy "revelations" for them -- ham-fisted attempts to entrap and discredit her, she says.

"Millions have gone into trying to destroy my reputation, which could have been spent on something useful," she said. "But all they did was help make me famous, the stupid idiots."

Never welcome, and officially barred from Malaysia in 2015, Rewcastle has gone almost overnight from persona non grata to welcome guest.

British journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown has been a thorn in the side of 

Malaysia's ruling elite for years (AFP Photo/Laurence CHU, John SAEKI)

She met AFP following an interview with a state-aligned newspaper that formerly maligned her but gave her glowing front-page treatment on Monday.

She was halted repeatedly by ordinary Malaysians who recognised her distinctive ginger locks, stopping to thank her and snap selfies.

Many more have praised Rewcastle on social media after learning of her arrival. "It's extremely gratifying," she said.

Few foreigners were as feared by Malaysia's government.

Born in Sarawak when it was a British crown colony, she spent several years there, often following her mother -- a midwife for indigenous people -- on jungle jaunts to remote clinics.

She later worked for the BBC and others in London in investigative journalism before devoting herself to publicising Sarawak corruption, deforestation, and eviction of native peoples from traditional lands.

"I did this partly because I was mad, and partly because I thought there was a slim chance something could be done," she said of the state which environmentalists believe has lost nearly all of its original rainforest.

In 2010, she started Sarawak Report and short-wave broadcaster Radio Free Sarawak -- operated in secret from London, and later Bali, Brunei and Sarawak itself.

Rewcastle drew on a network of contacts in Malaysia to repeatedly expose the plundering of Sarawak. Najib's regime eventually blocked the website -- a move the new government has reversed -- and radio signals were jammed.

Winding down

With Malaysia on a reform path, Rewcastle expects to wind down her anti-graft work, which she said was a money-losing project reliant on financial backers she won't name.

But she pledged to "do my darnedest" to continuing advocating for Sarawak.

That includes pushing for investigations into its former chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud.

The retired 82-year-old, who was loosely aligned with Najib's regime, is accused by indigenous activists of ruling Sarawak like a family fiefdom for 33 years, plundering its timber and building ecologically harmful dams.

Sarawak Report, along with the Bruno Manser Fund, a Swiss NGO, has documented huge investments around the world by Taib's circle.

"Taib needs to be taken by the ankles and shook, so the money falls out," Rewcastle said.

"There's still a lot to be done. But we're in a terrific position now to really campaign for what this was originally about."

Wrongful imprisonment sheds light on slow justice in Pakistan

Yahoo – AFP, Ashraf KHAN, May 20, 2018

Asma Nawab spent two decades in jail after she was wrongfully accused of
 the murder of her family (AFP Photo/RIZWAN TABASSUM)

Asma Nawab spent two decades in jail, wrongfully accused of murdering her family. Finally acquitted, she is seeking a new life, free from whispers and memories, as her plight draws fresh questions over Pakistan's woeful justice system.

Nawab was just 16 years old when someone slit the throats of her parents and only brother during an attempted robbery at their home in Pakistan's chaotic port city of Karachi in 1998.

With the killings dominating headlines, prosecutors pushed for swift justice in a 12-day trial that ended with a death sentence handed to Nawab and her then-fiance.

The next 20 years were "very painful", Nawab, now 36, says tearfully.

At first the other inmates were sceptical at her protests of innocence, but eventually she formed a new "family" of women -- some convicted of kidnappings, others of murders.

They supported one another when progress on their cases was poor, or family neglected them.

"We would cry on Eid and other festivals... It was very painful. I would feel it intensely" when relatives failed to visit, she said through sobs. "Only once my uncle came to see me."

Though her trial was speedy, her appeal moved at a glacial speed through Pakistan's creaky justice system.

It was not until 2015 that her lawyers petitioned the Supreme Court, which -- after a three-year hearing -- ordered Nawab released due to lack of evidence last month.

"The verdict of this case was given in 12 days but it took 19 and a half years to dispose of the appeals," her lawyer Javed Chatari told AFP.

Nawab said the acquittal left her stunned. "I really couldn't believe it," she told AFP.

The verdict left her "perplexed", she said, and she struggled to understand what would come next. "How would I face the world after living so long in jail?"

Nawab meets her former neighbours as she returns to her childhood home in 

Karachi after her release from prison (AFP Photo/RIZWAN TABASSUM)

Judicial woes

Stories like Nawab's are common in Pakistan, where the judiciary lacks the capacity to cope with the country's surging population and an expanding case load, resulting in a mammoth backlog.

In 2017 alone, there were more than than 38,000 cases pending in Pakistan's Supreme Court in addition to hundreds of thousands awaiting trial across the judiciary, according to a Human Rights Commission Pakistan report released in April.

Rampant corruption in Pakistan's police force also means the wealthy are able to bypass the law, while deep-seated patriarchy means women in particular face an uneven playing field in the justice system.

"Unequal power structures allow for people with advantage -- money or power -- to rise above the law. For the poor, the system is sluggish and sometimes is so weak that it is safe to label it as almost non-existent," said lawyer Benazir Jaoti, who specialises in women's legal and political empowerment in Pakistan.

"Within the system, women are one of the groups of people that are significantly disadvantaged, it being a patriarchal society and a patriarchal system."

Even when the system finally comes through, as it did with Nawab's acquittal, that is usually as far as it goes, leaving those whose lives have been dismantled to repair the damage with little or no support.

Nawab's lawyer Javed Chatari breaks the lock at her home in Karachi, nearly

20 years after her wrongful arrest (AFP Photo/RIZWAN TABASSUM)

Going home again

Nawab has had little to return to since leaving Karachi's central prison in early April.

With her loved ones dead, her family house was looted then fell into disrepair.

Any potential compensation from the state will take time to process, her lawyer admits, acknowledging there's a high chance she will receive nothing. In the meantime, she is unemployed.

During her first visit back to her humble family home she quietly wept as her lawyer broke the gate's lock with a hammer.

"(The police) left nothing behind," she said after walking through the dilapidated house covered in dust and cobwebs.

"I lost my parents and now I see none of their belongings."

Nearly two decades after being convicted, Nawab still holds the media as much as the courts responsible for her treatment, saying she was unfairly portrayed as the culprit in the murders, including in a TV drama based on the case.

Although she has been exonerated, her release has done little to change the public narrative.

Nawab says people still whisper cold remarks when she walks past and 

refuse to accept she was wrongfully imprisoned (AFP Photo/RIZWAN TABASSUM)

Persecution persists, Nawab says, with people in the streets frequently whispering cold remarks when she walks past.

"Society will not accept the verdict," agreed Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Farooq, commenting on the case. "She cannot get rid of this stigma as far as society is concerned."

But Nawab says she must move on and has plans to finish her studies and find a job.

She has also vowed to raise awareness for other wrongly imprisoned women. Her lawyer says he will help her set up an NGO to give women like her the support she never had.

"I don't want any other woman to have to endure the ordeal that I lived through," says Nawab.

"So I will raise their voices for them."

Anwar declares 'new dawn' in Malaysia after walking free from jail

Yahoo – AFP, Samuel REEVES, 16 May 2018

Anwar was jailed on a sodomy conviction that his supporters say was cooked
up to destroy his political career

Reformist Anwar Ibrahim declared a "new dawn for Malaysia" Wednesday after his release from prison transformed him into a potential prime minister following his alliance's stunning election victory.

In scenes that captivated Malaysians, the charismatic 70-year-old returned to the national spotlight after the country's king quashed a widely criticised sodomy conviction that had put Anwar behind bars for three years.

To ecstatic cries of "Reformasi!" (Reform) -- Anwar's rallying cry -- he took selfies with his former prison guards and vowed before hundreds of journalists and supporters to support efforts to take the country in a new direction.

Anwar said he had forgiven Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who had him imprisoned two decades ago but who took over the opposition alliance and swept to victory last week. The 92-year-old says he will step down in a year or two to make way for Anwar.

"Now there is a new dawn for Malaysia," said Anwar, flanked by his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and other members of his political party.

"The entire spectrum of Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, have stood by the principles of democracy and freedom. They demand change."

Anwar has cast a long shadow over Malaysian politics for decades.

He enjoyed a meteoric rise in the now-ousted Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition before a spectacular falling out with his then-boss Mahathir in 1998 that saw Anwar thrown in jail for sodomy and abuse of power.

Upon his release in 2004, he joined and revitalised the opposition coalition that finally ousted BN last week under Mahathir's leadership.

Anwar's release Wednesday from his second jail term for an unrelated sodomy conviction sets up a tantalising reunion with his nemesis-turned-ally Mahathir.

Anwar shakes hands with a prison officer as he speaks to the media 

following his release from hospital

No grudges

Anwar said his history with Mahathir was water under the bridge, as they shared the same goals of reforming the government and cleaning up a massive corruption scandal involving former prime minister Najib Razak.

"Bury the hatchet? It's been a long time already," Anwar said when asked about Mahathir.

"I have forgiven him."

Anwar indicated that he had no immediate plans to get deeply involved in politics, but would support Mahathir's governing efforts as a "private citizen".

Anwar's release caps a remarkable reversal of fortune made possible by the BN's unexpected electoral drubbing a week ago.

The former autocrat Mahathir, who headed BN for 22 years until 2003, came out of retirement to lead the disparate opposition to a surprise victory.

Many had expected a BN win thanks to its tight hold over the media, government, police and electoral apparatus of the multicultural Muslim-majority nation.

But the result laid bare the depth of disgust with former leader Najib, who is implicated in a massive scandal in which billions of dollars were plundered from the state investment fund 1MDB he established.

Mahathir has barred Najib from leaving the country pending investigations.

Anwar removes his tie before speaking to the media as his wife Wan 

Azizah (bottom R) looks on

Dizzying change

The BN had ruled since independence in 1957. Anwar's release adds to a dizzying sense of change and is likely to fuel expectations for an entirely new national direction.

Xavier Jayakumar, a member of parliament with Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat, called it "a momentous day for all of Malaysia".

"The joy is similar to when South Africans celebrated with jubilation after Nelson Mandela was freed," he said.

Amnesty International, which had denounced Anwar's imprisonment as politically motivated, called his release a "landmark moment for human rights in the country".

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein warmly welcomed the release and said Malaysia now "has a historic opportunity to ensure the centrality of human rights, rule of law and an independent judiciary".

Safuan Awang, 35, who works for a medical supply company and is a member of Anwar's party, rejoiced at the release of "our hero Anwar Ibrahim".

"We have been waiting for this for such a long time," he said, expressing confidence that Anwar and Mahathir would work together.

"It will help to improve the economy, and improve the situation between different races. It will make the country more peaceful."

Anwar's path to leadership remains unclear, however.

Only a parliament member can become premier, but Anwar was stripped of his seat in 2015 after his conviction on charges of sodomising a young male aide.

Japan's Olympic golf venue admits first female members

Yahoo – AFP, May 11, 2018

The upscale Kasumigaseki Country Club near Tokyo has upgraded three women
 to full membership after agreeing last year to admit female members, following
criticism from the International Olympic Committee (AFP Photo/TORU YAMANAKA)

Tokyo (AFP) - Japan's golf venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has granted full membership to women for the first time, after lifting a ban under pressure from Games authorities.

The upscale Kasumigaseki Country Club told AFP it had upgraded three women to full membership after agreeing last year to admit female members, following criticism from the International Olympic Committee.

"After the change of the rules, we asked members including men if they want to have full membership, and three women wanted to change their status to full membership," club general manager Hiroshi Imaizumi said.

The board of the club -- where Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe played with US President Donald Trump in November -- this week approved the requests after receiving no complaints or opposition from other members, he said.

Until last year, the private club in Japan's Saitama region had women on its roster but they were not allowed to become full members and could not play on certain Sundays -- restrictions that did not apply to male members.

The club has around 200 female associate members who are either relatives of male full-fledged members, or "weekday members" who are barred from playing on Sundays.

After being selected as a host venue for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the club came under pressure to change its rules, with IOC chief Thomas Bach threatening to take the golf competition elsewhere and asking the club to choose "non-discrimination".

Tokyo's female governor Yuriko Koike also complained about the ban, saying she felt "extreme discomfort" at the fact women were prevented from full membership.

Imaizumi said the club had two female full members about four decades ago, but that the ban on women was introduced several years later for reasons unknown.

The decision to lift the ban "is the trend of the time", he said.

It came after Scotland's prestigious Muirfield golf club last year voted to allow women members, ditching a ban that had been in place for 273 years.

North Korea 'taking measures' to dismantle nuclear site: KCNA

Yahoo – AFP, May 12, 2018

A North Korean soldier stands before the military demarcation line separating the
two Koreas, with 'Peace House' - where the summit will take place - in the
background on the right (AFP Photo/Ed JONES)

Seoul (AFP) - North Korea is "taking technical measures" to dismantle its nuclear test site, state media said Saturday in the latest dramatic step ahead of a historic summit between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump next month.

"A ceremony for dismantling the nuclear test ground is now scheduled between May 23 and 25, depending on weather condition," the official KCNA news agency said, citing a foreign ministry press release.

The test tunnels would be blown up, blocking their entries, the statement said.

All observation facilities and research institutes would be removed along with guards and researchers, it said, detailing the process of closing the site.

Reporters from China, Russia, the United States, Britain and South Korea would be allowed to "conduct on-the-spot coverage in order to show in a transparent manner the dismantlement of the northern nuclear test ground," the foreign ministry statement said.

The limit on foreign journalists was due to the "small space of the test ground" which it said was "located in the uninhabited deep mountain area".

In a dramatic turnaround after Kim and Trump had traded threats of war and personal insults, the young North Korean leader vowed to pursue denuclearisation at a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month.

He is now set for the first ever face-to-face meeting between a sitting American president and a North Korean leader, scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Friday promised the US would work to rebuild North Korea's sanctions-crippled economy if it agreed to surrender its nuclear arsenal.

"The DPRK will, also in the future, promote close contacts and dialogue with the neighbouring countries and the international society so as to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and over the globe," the North Korean foreign ministry statement carried by KCNA said Saturday.

VIDEO US Secretary of State Pompeo says there is "complete agreement about what the ultimate objectives are" in terms of the much-anticipated summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/eftumE7qik

— AFP news agency (@AFP) May 12, 2018

Kuwait, Philippines sign deal to regulate domestic labour

Yahoo – AFP, May 11, 2018

Filipino workers arrive to Manila International Airport from Kuwait on February 18,
2018, after the murder of a Philippine maid sent hundreds of women streaming
back home (AFP Photo/NOEL CELIS)

Kuwait City (AFP) - Kuwait and the Philippines signed a deal on Friday to regulate domestic workers, after a dispute between the two countries led to a ban on Filipino workers in the Gulf state.

"A short time ago we signed an agreement between the two countries on the employment of domestic workers," Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah told a joint press conference with his Filipino counterpart Alan Peter Cayetano.

In February Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a partial ban on workers travelling to Kuwait after a Filipina maid was murdered and her body found in a freezer.

The crisis deepened after Kuwaiti authorities in April expelled Manila's ambassador over video footage of Philippine embassy staff helping workers escape employers accused of mistreatment.

Cayetano said a new ambassador to Kuwait would soon be appointed and that he would advise Duterte to "immediately" lift the ban.

"I think the crisis is over. We will move on with the bilateral relations and we will resume normal ties with Kuwait," said an official with Cayetano's delegation.

He added that the agreement "gives a number of rights to Philippine workers".

A copy of the agreement seen by AFP says that workers will be allowed to keep their passports and cellphones -- often confiscated by employers.

It stipulates that contract renewals should be approved by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, instead of being automatically renewed.

Employers must provide domestic workers with food, housing, clothing and health insurance, according to the document.

About 262,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait, 60 percent of them in domestic labour, according to Manila.

More than two million Filipinos are employed across the Gulf.

Rights groups have repeatedly urged Gulf states to reform their labour laws to cover domestic workers and provide them with "equal protections" available to other workers.

Malaysia king to pardon Anwar, paving way for return to politics

Yahoo – AFP, Martin Abbugao, M. Jegathesan,  May 11, 2018

Anwar Ibrahim is newly installed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's former
nemesis turned ally (AFP Photo/Manan VATSYAYANA)

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Malaysia's king has agreed to pardon Anwar Ibrahim immediately, the country's newly installed prime minister said Friday, paving the way for the jailed leader to return to politics and potentially become premier.

It was the latest dramatic development after Mahathir Mohamad's alliance inflicted a shock defeat on the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, ending the corruption-riddled regime's six-decade stranglehold on power.

Related Searches

Malaysia Prime MinisterKing Of MalaysiaMalaysia Election Result

Mahathir -- who had retired in 2003 as premier but made a comeback in a bid to oust the coalition he once headed -- was sworn in Thursday, becoming the world's oldest elected leader at 92.

Mahathir, who had ruled with an iron fist for over two decades, cut ties with BN due to allegations that the coalition's leader and his ex-protege Najib Razak oversaw the pillaging of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

The elderly politician joined forces with parties that opposed him while in power and agreed that if elected, he would hand over the premiership to Anwar, his former nemesis and leading member of the People's Justice Party.

The party is in the alliance that won power at the hard-fought poll.

Mahathir previously said he would likely remain prime minister for two to three years, before transferring power to Anwar.

One of Malaysia's most charismatic politicians, Anwar was heir-apparent to the premiership until Mahathir sacked him in 1998 and he was subsequently jailed for sodomy and abuse of power.

Anwar and Mahathir's stormy relationship has loomed large over Malaysia's political landscape for two decades.

But in a remarkable turnaround, the pair reconciled and joined forces as allegations mounted over 1MDB and Najib became increasingly authoritarian, jailing opponents and introducing laws to stifle dissent.

Anwar, now 70, was jailed again in 2015 during Najib's rule -- after making historic gains as the head of the opposition at the 2013 elections -- and had been due to be released next month.

'Victory for the people'

But Mahathir told a press conference that King Sultan Muhammad V, in a meeting with opposition leaders, had agreed to grant Anwar a royal pardon.

"The (king) has indicated he is willing to pardon Datuk Sri Anwar immediately," Mahathir told a press conference, using a Malay honorific to refer to Anwar.

The royal pardon would mean he could return to politics straight away. Without it, he would be banned from political life for five years.

"He should be released immediately when he is pardoned," Mahathir added.

It was not clear when Anwar, who is currently in hospital for treatment to his shoulder, would be freed.

In a statement, Anwar thanked "the people of Malaysia for their courage in making a change which is a victory for the people."

"The new government vows to uphold democracy, justice and human rights for all," said the statement, delivered by vice-president of his party, Tian Chua, who was visiting the leader in hospital.

Mahathir Mohamad said he believed the new government could get back most of the
money stolen from 1MDB (AFP Photo/Manan VATSYAYANA, Manan VATSYAYANA)

Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, president of Anwar's party and his wife, told AFP the process to have him freed was already under way.

Meanwhile, speculation was mounting about Najib's future with a senior member of his party, former sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin, calling for "big changes" to be made without delay.

Najib's premiership has been battered by a massive financial scandal, in which he was accused of overseeing the plunder of billions of dollars from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. He and the fund deny any wrongdoing.

Target the corrupt

Asked about 1MDB Friday, Mahathir accused Attorney-General Mohamed Ali Apandi -- who cleared Najib over the scandal -- of having "undermined his own credibility".

"He in fact has hidden evidence of wrongdoing and that is wrong in law," he said, adding his new government would target those linked to the old regime suspected of corruption.

In 2016, Apandi said the Saudi royal family was the source of $681 million that mysteriously appeared in Najib's bank accounts, and closed the 1MDB probe.

Apandi came to office after Najib sacked the previous attorney general, who was believed to be aggressively investigating the matter.

Mahathir also said there was widespread fraud during the election campaign and it would be investigated.

His comments might raise eyebrows, however.

Critics say there was much electoral fraud during Mahathir's time in power, while corruption and cronyism flourished, and his government was accused of pushing policies that favoured the Muslim Malay majority and exacerbated racial tensions.

Still, analysts say the attempted cheating at Wednesday's poll was worse than anything seen before.

BN was accused of serious gerrymandering while activists said the coalition hurled cash and gifts at voters and there was a litany of problems with the electoral roll, including dead people appearing on the list.

But voters turned out in droves, determined to push out the government, with the opposition boosted by the presence of standard-bearer Mahathir, who has a huge following among the Malays.

#UPDATE Malaysia's former leader Najib Razak is hit with a travel ban as speculation mounted he was about to flee the country following his shock election loss https://t.co/dqFV2Ec7U8 pic.twitter.com/Cpxi6b9rj8

— AFP news agency (@AFP) May 12, 2018

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…

The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review

Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that?

Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."

"The Field Part Two" - Aug 7, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - ("The Field" - Text version)

"... Interaction with Others

There's another attribute as well. This is difficult to talk about because it has to do with Human nature, personality, old bad habits and fears. It's personal, but necessary to bring forward. Let me ask you: For anyone listening or reading right now, how do you talk to others? What's the natural, neutral point? I'm asking the audience who is listening and reading now. Perhaps you would say, "Well, I have to be a little forceful to get what I need because I live in a difficult place. So I approach things perhaps with a little more aggressiveness than most people do." I would ask you this question, "Does that mean you are unkind to them?" The response: "Well, I don't mean to be, but sometimes they say I am. But this is the only way I can get what I need." And I say, "Really?"

Something is going to happen soon, and I want to tell you what it is because of The Field. Dear ones, for many years I have said that within this new energy there can be no more fence-sitting. What I mean by this is that you cannot claim to be one thing and then go out and be another. This has many names, but the fence-sitter is the best. For example, you like my message, but you don't want to necessarily commit to these esoteric things when the channel is over.

How do you treat the server who comes to your table when you have dinner? Is this person a servant or family? How do you treat those on the road who cut you off? What do you say about others when they're not present? Now, you might say, "Well, that's good advice. Thank you Kryon. I'll be more kind." That's not what I'm telling you. I would like to tell you that there is something going on. You see, The Field wants harmony. It tries to put things together and it's starting to increase its effect. "What?" you might ask. "How can physics 'want' anything?" Water runs downhill. Does physics want that? Not on a conscious level. It creates it due to the law of gravity. What if there are also additional laws of harmony? What if harshness creates unwanted results? Stay with me.

The Field is all around you. You listen to Kryon perhaps, and you've been to esoteric meetings perhaps. You've heard everything that I have had to say about the beauty of compassion and how you're moving into the age of compassion. You've even heard what compassionate action means. You listen and you listen, nodding your head, then you go out and do whatever you want to.

When somebody is not pleasing to you, you're unkind to them. The reason? Habit. It's the only way you've lived before. Perhaps insulting people and being harsh gets you results, and that works for you? For you, it's just the way of it. Then you'll come back to our meeting, listen to Kryon, and feel very good. You're very spiritual until you leave the meeting. Then the habit continues. This isn't going to work anymore, at all. Let me tell you why.

Dear ones, The Field wants to create harmony and put things together. If The Field cannot put things together, things become more unbalanced than ever. If water can't flow downhill in a groove, it spills over into places and it creates floods and destruction. How would you like to age faster and die quicker? If that's what you want, then continue, fence-sitter, because you're very cellular structure will be pushed by The Field towards harmony, which you reject due to your habits. That rejection creates unbalance in your chemistry. That will result in unbalance in your personality. There is still another attribute for this unbalance, and some of you will feel it and wonder why you're so tired all the time. Are you somehow fence-sitting?

This is so profound, yet many of you don't even know it's happening. I will tell you that the ones who have learned compassion will live a lot longer. Right now, things are happening that we told you might happen if you passed the marker. When I got here 26 years ago, I told you to expect some of these things and now they're happening. One of them is this: You cannot sit on the fence. You either are connected in some way to Spirit with intent or you're not. You can't pretend, because your body knows.

Dear ones, this is not a punishment, but rather a balance within a physical system. It's a system of beauty. It wants to harmonize that which you do, and it's a very benevolent system. There are those who say, "Well Kryon, I hear you. I'd like to do this; I'd like to harmonize more but I've had a whole life of this habit. It's just the way I work. What can I do?" Here's what I want to tell you: With this new energy comes a much higher reaction to a certain given consciousness. Your intent and affirmations to change into a more compassionate person can work miracles. Let your body hear it and The Field will hear it. Your intent is energy. The Field is energy. This is physics, and The Field will help this process for you. It's going to be the wind behind your back and you're going to find yourself thinking about things differently, looking at others differently, using different words, and changing your habit.

Many are even reporting that they have more energy due to this refreshing change. You're going to feel your cellular structure healing when it never did before. Sores on your body will heal up faster, did you know that? This is real. Hair will grow faster, nails will grow faster. The reason? Because there is a harmony here that hasn't been here for a very long time. You are creating a groove for the water that was never there before. How would you like to take everything that I've said through the years and finally apply it to your persona so that you become a more compassionate person and slower to anger? All of this is possible because The Field is on your side. Think of it as a magnificent angelic presence that is ready to help you with everything that you're asking to become - more compassionate, more master-like.

I already told you the results, and it's not just that you're going to live longer. People will notice your shift, people directly around you. If you're young enough, your children will notice. May I say, even your animals will notice! They'll come to you when they didn't before, because now you emanate peace on the patterning of your Merkabah, a multidimensional patterning that is totally different than the pattern it was before. Animals can sense this. No anger, very little drama, a peaceful countenance - you actually invite compassion!

Dear ones, I would not give you this information if it were not so. I want you to get ready for more of this. It's starting to happen everywhere on the planet, but especially I speak to old souls who are fence-sitters and wish to change. Come and enjoy the energy! You will find that the results of new compassion on others is far grander than the results of what your old habit was able to do.

It's time to come to alignment with the creative source, which is an energy of awakening all through your body. It is here for you and always has been. The easiest thing you can do is to relax and find the compassion that has always been there. These are the things that I wished to tell you today. These are the things that need to be said. This is what is happening within the shift. You're going to see it in so many ways, and you can watch it as well, for even those on the planet who are not invested in spirituality will have some similar results by applying compassion.

Listen, dear ones, old energy and dark ways will be with you for a long time, trying to re-establish themselves. Some will even tell you that you should NOT be a kind person. They will tell you that kindness is weakness, and ask you, "Do you want to be weak?" It's an old ploy to trick you into going backwards into the ways of the past, and many will buy into it. What are the results?

Those who are unkind will bring unkindness; they will bring unbalance; they will manifest their own demise. Those who are gracious and compassionate will attract that which is beautiful, and it works. Watch for it. Also, watch for the tricksters, for there is still a battle. It used to be that how you acted was neutral on this planet. Not now. There are those who would ask, "How could that person exist and be so ugly to other people? How can they sleep at night?" You've heard that before. Well, I'm going to tell you something. Those days are over and they won't sleep at night. They will create their own eventual demise. There are situations coming up that will show you this very thing.

Here's the payoff: There's more light on this planet than ever before. It creates several things, and we have said it before. Watch for the darkness to fight you like never before, and watch for The Field of harmony to invade everything. It's almost like the beauty of Mother Nature is starting to affect humanity as well. The Field will try to create symbiotic systems that work together with compassion and beauty. It's going to change Human nature and we've said that before as well. Hang in there, old soul, and expect good things no matter what you see or expected in the past.

I am Kryon, in love with humanity, congratulating you on your part of the shift.

And so it is. 

KRYON