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A UK-based editor has accused Malaysia of “silencing free media” after it issued a warrant for her arrest.

Clare Rewcastle-Brown’s Sarawak Report website has published multiple articles on corruption allegations linked to Malaysian PM Najib Razak.

Malaysian police said Ms Rewcastle-Brown was engaging in “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy” and disseminating false reports.

Mr Najib was cleared of wrongdoing by a corruption agency force this week.

The agency said hundreds of millions of dollars found in Mr Najib’s personal accounts were not from the 1MDB state investment fund he had set up, but were donations. It did not disclose who the donations were from or what they were for. The Sarawak Report website was recently blocked in Malaysia.
Ms Rewcastle-Brown, who lives in London, told Channel News Asia that several newspapers had been shut down and journalists arrested.

“They are trying to arrest me for some kind of action against democracy, which is ironic given that it is the Malaysian government which has been taking actions against democracy by silencing free media,” she said. But she said she did not think Malaysian authorities would be able to extradite her.

The head of the Afghan Taliban’s political office in Qatar has resigned, in the latest sign of a split in the group following Mullah Omar’s death.

In a statement, Syed Tayyab Agha said he would step down, and criticised the way in which Mullah Omar’s successor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, had been chosen.

Mullah Mansour was named leader on Thursday after Mullah Omar’s death was confirmed.

However, some Taliban members said they had not been consulted on the decision.

Tayyab Agha, who previously served as Mullah Omar’s personal secretary, said he was stepping down to avoid “expected future disputes”.

He said it was “a great historical mistake” that the new leader had been “appointed outside the country and from the people who are residing outside the country” – a reference to claims that Mullah Mansour’s appointment was influenced by circles associated with the Pakistani government.He added that the militant group should handle all its affairs from within Afghanistan, and criticised the fact that Mullah Omar’s death “was kept secret for almost two years”.

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An Australian court has overturned government approval for Indian company Adani’s giant coal mine in Queensland. The Carmichael mine, approved by the government last year, would have been one of world’s biggest coal mines.

Critics challenged the decision in the Federal Court of Australia because of a range of environmental concerns. The court said on Tuesday that the environment minister had failed to heed advice about threats to vulnerable animal species. The decision means the mine could not legally operate until fresh approval was granted, according to Sue Higginson, the principal solicitor for the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) in New South Wales (NSW).

Two Threatened Species

The EDO challenged the government’s approval of the mine on behalf of the Mackay Conservation Group.

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Croatia has held a big military parade to mark the 20th anniversary of a key offensive in its independence struggle, while Serbia mourns the victims.

The Zagreb parade featured thousands of soldiers, military vehicles and jets, to celebrate Operation Storm in 1995.

The massive campaign saw Croatia’s army retake the Serb-held Krajina region during the break-up of Yugoslavia, forcing many Serb civilians to flee. Serbia is holding an official day of mourning on Wednesday.

Forgiven Not Forgotten

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic was among those taking part in a ceremony at a symbolic bridge separating Bosnia and Serbia on Tuesday evening. “We have peace with Croatia and we are going to preserve it,” he said. “But today, we send a message that the crime should be forgiven but must not be forgotten.”

In Croatia, thousands of spectators greeted the military parade, and other events were staged as victory celebrations on Tuesday. Operation Storm ushered in the end of the 1991-95 war that in total claimed about 20,000 lives, both Croatian and Serb.

It dismantled the self-proclaimed Serb Republic of Krajina, where Serb rebels had staked out territory amounting to about a quarter of Croatia.

In the days that followed, property was destroyed and atrocities committed against those Serbs who remained. At least three-quarters of around 200,000 Serb civilians who lived in the region fled. Croatia is now a member of the European Union and Nato. Serbia, a traditional Russian ally, wants to join the EU and the negotiations are far advanced.

Germany’s justice minister has sacked the country’s top prosecutor, who had accused the government of interfering with a treason investigation.

Heiko Maas said he no longer had confidence in Harald Range, dismissing his statements as “incomprehensible”.

Prosecutors are investigating whether the Netzpolitik website revealed state secrets in articles about plans to step up state surveillance.
News of the case sparked street protests last week over press freedom.

The outcry put the government on the back foot, with senior officials stressing that Germany was committed to press freedom and casting doubts over whether the articles constituted treason.

Earlier on Tuesday, in a rare public row between the German judiciary and the state, Mr Range said the government had asked him to drop an independent investigator from the inquiry, who concluded that one of the articles published did amount to a disclosure of a state secret.

The request, said Mr Range, amounted to “an intolerable encroachment on the independence of the judiciary”.
He said that while the freedom of press was valuable it was not “limitless”.

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