KUALA LUMPUR: A leading Malaysian politician who gained fame defending opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in his sensational sodomy trials was killed in a road accident yesterday, police said.
Karpal Singh, 73, was killed along with a longtime assistant when his vehicle struck a lorry on a highway in the northern state of Perak in the early morning, state police chief Acryl Sani Abdullah said.
Anwar said Karpal’s death came “like a lightning bolt,” and called Karpal “an inspiring symbol for the struggle against oppression and injustice.”
The outspoken Karpal -- wheelchair-bound following a 2005 road accident -- emerged as a leading lawyer in the 1970s.
First elected to parliament in 1978, he was detained in 1987 for more than a year under a tough crackdown on opposition figures.
Japan delays whale hunt
TOKYO: Japan has delayed the start of its next “research” whaling mission by a few days, an official said yesterday, amid media speculation the postponement was to avoid a clash with a visit by US President Barack Obama.
A ruling late last month that Tokyo’s Antarctic hunt breached international rules that ban commercial whaling sparked celebrations among environmentalists around the world, with some heralding an end to the slaughter.
But the ruling by the International Court of Justice does not apply to Japan’s other whaling programmes -- a hunt it carries out in the northwest Pacific in the name of science and a smaller coastal programme. The fleet for the Pacific hunt was originally scheduled to sail next Tuesday, the day before Obama is due to arrive for a three-day state visit at the start of an Asian tour. Agencies
