Asia in 3 minutes: Malaysian shaman to Russian sex guru – the week Asian politics got weird
Making a killing: Indonesia’s bootleg booze king and American assassins in Philippines
Would you elect someone who looked for a plane with a ‘magic’ carpet?
A shaman who drew ridicule by trying to locate the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 with coconuts and a “magic” carpet announced this week he will run in next month’s elections. Ibrahim Mat Zin – known as “Raja Bomoh”, which translates as “King of Shamans” – will contest a parliamentary seat in the northern state of Perak. After MH370 disappeared in 2014 with 239 people aboard, Ibrahim held rituals at Kuala Lumpur airport using bamboo binoculars, a pair of coconuts and what he described as a magic carpet that could weaken the “spirits” holding the plane. The Boeing aircraft is still missing. He held more rituals on a beach after the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s brother at the airport last year. Authorities were disturbed enough to briefly detain him.
What next: Running against Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, one of the most powerful figures in government, Ibrahim is unlikely to win his seat in the May 9 election. The poll will be a test for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s coalition, which has governed for six decades. The PM has been battling allegations that he was linked to the looting of state fund 1MDB.
Model, Russian ‘sex coach’ offer Trump secrets to get off Thai charges
A Belarusian model and Russian “sex coach” pleaded for US help as they arrived for a court hearing in Thailand on Tuesday, claiming to have revelations about alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election. Anastasia Vashukevich and self-styled sex guru Alexander Kirillov were detained with eight other foreigners in February by Thai police who raided their “sex training course” in Pattaya. They are facing charges of soliciting prostitution and criminal links. “They are trying to put us behind bars … That is why I am ready to tell you about all those missing puzzle pieces that you lacked … regarding a link between our esteemed lawmakers and [Paul] Manafort, Trump and all this brouhaha, the US elections,” Vashukevich said in a video.
What next: She and Kirillov are facing a lawsuit in Russia over footage which Vashukevich filmed purporting to show an influential deputy prime minister, Sergei Prikhodko, enjoying lavish hospitality on a yacht owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska.
US embassy in Cambodia sacks dozens of staff over pornography sharing
The United States embassy in Cambodia fired 32 people after they were caught sharing pornographic material in a non-official chat group. The pornographic videos and photographs, including some featuring people under the age of 18, were shared in a Facebook Messenger chat group, sources said. Some of the images were seen by the wife of an embassy worker who reported the incident to an official at the embassy. The matter was then forwarded to the FBI, the sources said.