Latest news with #MPD
Fox News
8 hours ago
- Fox News
Blue city mayor nearly kidnapped after claiming city is getting safer: police
Just one day after Mayor Paul Young of Memphis touted declining crime in the city, a man was arrested for allegedly stalking and attempting to kidnap him. Trenton Abston, 25, was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempted kidnapping, stalking and aggravated criminal trespass against Young, according to the Memphis Police Department (MPD). Police said in an announcement on Facebook that public and private security camera footage showed Abston scaling the wall to the mayor's neighborhood and walking to Young's home. He was arrested with a TASER, gloves, rope and duct tape in his vehicle. Thanks to a rapid response by MPD officers, as well as security camera footage, Abston was quickly apprehended, the department said. "We understand the concerns raised by this incident and want to reassure the public that the Memphis Police Department remains fully committed to the safety of all residents, including our city's elected officials," the police department said. "We take any potential threat seriously and will continue to act swiftly and thoroughly." According to Shelby County, Tennessee jail records, Abston remains behind bars as of Friday, and his bond has not yet been assessed. It is unclear whether he has an attorney, and the Shelby County public defender's office could not be reached for comment. The suspect was arrested just one day after Young took to X to defend the city after comments made by sports analyst Stephen A. Smith, who said NBA players don't want to play in Memphis due to safety concerns. "The people in Memphis, it's a great sports town — great fans, great people — but there's an element there where cats like Jimmy Butler and others don't feel like it's the safest environment," Smith said on Tuesday's edition of "First Take" on ESPN. "I'm talking to the local authorities in Memphis. You've got to clean some of that stuff up because it's dissuasive to NBA players. They have talked about it. I know. They've told me. That's all I'm saying." The comment sparked backlash from Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant and from Young. "talkin bout the grizz more than the finals [laughing emoji] wit these [cap emoji] ahh sources," Morant posted on X. "instead of focusing on the performances we seen from jdub/shai, tj/Siakam, how this series is going. We say sumn negative about a city/team on a national level." Young also weighed in on X. "Stephen called us a great sports town - facts," he said. "Best fans in sports? True. People of Memphis? Unmatched." "But what he is missing is that crime is down significantly in 2024 and 2025. We're not just talking change, we're delivering it. Memphis is rising and we've got the numbers and the heart to prove it." He also thanked Memphians and Morant for standing up for the city, and invited Smith to come to Memphis, where he is welcome "anytime." Young's office and the Shelby County Sheriff's Office did not immediately return comment requests. MPD said the security footage was not available for release.
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Malaysia cracks down on online critics amid controversial mobile data tracking project
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian authorities are taking action against online critics of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's administration, with politicians and members of the public being called in for police questioning in recent weeks, charged or muzzled. This comes amid growing unease over the government's Mobile Phone Data (MPD) project, which collects users' mobile data from telcos, without an opt-out option. Despite government assurances, critics have raised concerns over data privacy and security, fearing the information could be misused for surveillance. Already, there have been moves to silence online critics. Most recently , two channels of messaging service Telegram were bloc ked for allegedly harmful content that violated local laws. Whistleblower watchdog Edisi Siasat (investigation edition), with 1.18 million members, and its companion channel Edisi Khas (special edition), are no longer accessible in Malaysia. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ( MCMC ) said on June 19 that it obtained a temporary court order against Telegram and two channels on the platform for allegedly disseminating content that violates the country's laws. Malaysia's communications regulator said it sought the court order against Telegram following the platform's 'serious failure to address content that has been repeatedly reported to it'. The nature of the harmful content was not disclosed. The MCMC's latest move echoes its 2015 block on UK-based news blog Sarawak Report over 1MDB-related content. And now, at least half a dozen individuals have been questioned by the police for social media posts critical of government decisions, including the data-collection scheme. 'They (the authorities) have to stop the data collection. Why is there a need for large-scale monitoring?' said Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) Pahang Youth chief Wong Siew Mun, whose party is aligned with the Anwar-led unity government. 'This involves public interest and trust. We are trying to foster public discourse on this... We have a role to play in making sure the government is doing the right thing ,' she told The Straits Times, adding that the data-collection project should be tabled in Parliament for debate and scrutiny. Ms Wong was questioned by the police on June 18 over a video she posted on TikTok, in which she questioned whether Malaysia is truly undergoing reform s or slipping into 'dictatorship,' following the government's decision to collect data from telcos without individual s' consent. In its pilot phase, the MPD project is expected to continue until 2026. The government and telcos stress that only 'anonymous' data will be collected – meaning, no names or ID numbers – and that the data is for official use and is protected by strong laws, information leaks can and do happen . But experts warn that even when data is anonymous, it can sometimes be pieced back together to identify individuals. 'No personal data will be shared,' and 'we are not aiming to track the whereabouts of any individual,' MCMC deputy managing director Zurkarnain Mohd Yasin told the media on June 9. The growing scrutiny and pushback against critics comes at a time when the Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's administration is facing growing public discontent, including over the rising cost of living, even as it faces growing tensions within the ruling coalition. All of which appears to contradict his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition's longstanding commitment to free speech, undermining his reform agenda. In fact, social media censorship in Malaysia surged during Datuk Seri Anwar's first year in power, according to a TikTok report released in mid-2024. Currently , several individuals are being investigated by the authorities , including those questioning political developments within the ruling coalition. Lawmaker and former Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli on June 9 highlighted the case of X user Amer Hamzah, whose wife filed a police report after their home was visited by officers from both the MCMC and the police. Besides Mr Amer, Mr Rafizi also identified other social media accounts allegedly targeted for commenting on the recent internal elections of his Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), where Nurul Izzah Anwar, the Prime Minister's daughter, was declared deputy president over Rafizi, who held the post previously. 'The content under investigation merely constitutes personal opinions about the PKR elections and does not violate any law. If it is indeed considered an offence, then it should be addressed through transparent and legitimate procedures, not through tactics that instil fear,' Mr Rafizi said in a statement. The MCMC also summoned social media influencer Aliff Ahmad in April after he posted an offer on Facebook to investigate Ms Nurul Izzah's background using his platform, Scrut Analytica, if the post received 20,000 shares. Meanwhile, online seller Norizan Yahaya, 62, was charged on June 13 with posting offensive content regarding the authorities' investigation into the GISB sect on YouTube in September 2024. He was charged under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which carries a maximum fine of RM50,000, imprisonment of up to one year, or both. In January, Malaysia introduced a new social media law requiring social media platforms and messaging services with more than eight million users in Malaysia to obtain a licence or face legal action. In pushing for the licensing of social media platforms, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil had said the measure is needed to combat the spread of online crimes, including scams, gambling, and child pornography. The minister has also sought to allay fears among the public over the data-collection scheme. 'The telcos will not be sharing any data containing personal information. Only anonymised data will be (shared), and it will be processed as carefully as possible by the telcos,' he was quoted as saying by the Free Malaysia Today news website on June 8. In addition, the Department of Statistics Malaysia posted on X on June 10 that the data collected would subject to appropriate safeguards. But the skeptics are not buying it. 'There is no such thing as anonymised,' X user Thevesh posted on June 7, adding that such data could be reidentified when combined with other information and thus 'very prone to abuse.' Sensitive behavioural data involving one's health, lifestyle or religious matters could easily be uncovered, noted Woon King Chai, director at Malaysian think-tank Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research. 'A user who connects to a transmitter in Taman Tun Dr Ismail every weekday at 7.20am and another in Putrajaya at 8.45am reveals a consistent home-to-work pattern,' he said, in a post on the Malay Mail's news website on June 17. He also expressed concerns about the growing intolerance of free speech, saying that when individuals who publicly questioned the MPD project are 'subjected to investigations and enforcement action', this fuels fears that the initiative is 'less about planning and more about control'. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Mainichi
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Mainichi
Senior Tokyo police, prosecutor apologize to machinery maker over illegal probe
YOKOHAMA -- Two top Tokyo police and prosecution officials apologized in person to current and former executives of machinery maker Ohkawara Kakohki Co. at the latter's office here on June 20, following a high court ruling recognizing the illegality of their investigations based on allegations the company was involved in illegal exports. Tetsuro Kamata, deputy superintendent general of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Hirohide Mori, head of the public security division of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, visited the company headquarters in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, to offer a direct apology to President Masaaki Ohkawara, 76, and former director Junji Shimada, 72. The visit came after the Tokyo High Court ruling deeming the investigations by the MPD's Public Security Bureau and the Tokyo prosecution office to be unlawful was finalized. Kamata bowed his head and stated, "We deeply apologize for the great anxiety and burden caused by the investigations. We are truly sorry." Mori also offered his apologies and added, "We will strive to exercise prosecutorial powers appropriately to ensure that such incidents do not occur again." President Ohkawara responded, "It would have been preferable for this apology to come at an earlier stage. I hope that you value those who testified in court and improve the organizations: good police and good prosecution." The MPD's Public Security Bureau arrested Ohkawara, Shimada and another individual in March 2020 on suspicion of illegally exporting equipment capable of being diverted to military use in violation of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act. Tokyo prosecutors initially indicted them but subsequently dropped the charges in July 2021. While President Ohkawara and others had consistently demanded an apology from law enforcers, the MPD and the district prosecutors office had not complied on the grounds that the company had filed a state compensation suit. Their apology on June 20 came about four years after the charges against the company personnel were withdrawn. Apart from the apology, the company is also demanding that the police and prosecutors launch an investigation into their own probes with the involvement of third parties. While the MPD and the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office have announced that they will respectively examine the problems, they have suggested conducting internal investigations. The May 28 Tokyo High Court ruling recognized that the MPD's Public Security Bureau arrested the president and others by making a stretched interpretation of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's export control ordinance in a way that was far detached from international standards. "The Public Security Bureau's interpretation lacked rationality, and there were basic problems with their judgment regarding the establishment of the criminal charges," the court found. The court also ruled that the interrogations of Shimada by an inspector at the MPD's Public Security Bureau employed deceptive tactics leading to misinterpretation of ministerial ordinances. In regard to a temperature experiment on the equipment in question, conducted in an attempt to prove the unlawful export charges, the court acknowledged that the Public Security Bureau and the district prosecutors office neglected to conduct additional experiments while being aware of flaws in the initial experiment. Furthermore, the court ruled that the indictment by the district prosecutors office despite skepticism about the interpretation of the export control ordinance and the absence of extra experiments constituted "a case lacking charges for which the accused could be found guilty."
Yomiuri Shimbun
20 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Peruvian Fighter Arrested on Suspicion of Smuggling Cocaine Hidden in ‘Shohei Ohtani Bats'
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Metropolitan Police Department A 40-year-old Peruvian man has been arrested for smuggling cocaine hidden in baseball bats with an illustration of baseball player Shohei Ohtani on them, the Metropolitan Police Department said. The suspect, Kasai Villanueva Eduardo Yoshihiro, has competed in martial arts events in Japan. According to the MPD, Kasai and his associates are suspected of smuggling about 1.9 kilograms of cocaine with a value of about ¥47 million from the United States to Narita Airport on July 18 last year by hiding it inside 11 wooden baseball bats. Tokyo Customs discovered the bats, which had the illustration and were packed together with seven gloves, during an inspection. The MPD arrested the suspect on Wednesday.
The Star
2 days ago
- Business
- The Star
MCMC: Telcos have more data
PETALING JAYA: Mobile phone data collected by the government is far less than what big tech companies already have, says a Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) commissioner, amid continued concerns over the initiative. MCMC commissioner Derek Fernandez said the data collected by the Mobile Phone Data (MPD) programme is anonymised and does not contain any personal information. 'The data we request does not include names, addresses, IC numbers or phone numbers. It's only general data. 'Big tech companies already have more personal data. They know where you are, what you're buying. Isn't that a bigger concern?' he said, addressing critics of the initiative who fear the data could be misused. Fernandez said the MPD initiative is grounded under International Telecommunications Union practices, a UN agency for information and communication technologies. (Click To Enlarge) 'The most important thing is that we tell the telcos not to send us personal identification. Only the Statistics Department will have access to the anonymised data for analysis and policymaking. 'For example, if I want to know how many people like going to a certain place on a Friday, I can either choose to sit there and count, or check mobile phone usage. 'We don't have granular data on the exact location of the device, only the cell tower it is connected to,' Fernandez added. At a media briefing on June 9, MCMC deputy managing director Datuk Zurkarnain Mohd Yasin said all mobile network operators have agreed to comply with the MFD. He also said the Statistics Department will process and analyse the data for publication. The collected data will be stored at a MCMC premise for three years, while the project, which is in the pilot phase, will continue until 2026. Telcos have since reaffirmed their commitment to protecting customer data and privacy as the exercise is carried out. MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong also proposed that the government address possible pitfalls with the exercise.
