KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) —Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, at 97, is back again in the election race as the head of a new ethnic Malay alliance that he calls a “movement of the people.” He hopes his bloc could gain enough seats in Saturday’s polls to be a powerbroker. Analysts said it is likely to be a spoiler party in a tight race. Denounced for being an autocrat during his first 22-year rule until 2003, Mahathir was welcomed as a savior after leading the opposition to oust a long-ruling corruption-stained party in 2018. He became the world’s oldest leader at 92, and was to hand over power to his rival-turned-ally Anwar Ibrahim.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new moon rocket blasted off on its debut flight with three test dummies aboard Wednesday, bringing the U.S. a big step closer to putting astronauts back on the lunar surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago. If all goes well during the three-week, make-or-break shakedown flight, the crew capsule will be propelled into a wide orbit around the moon and then return to Earth with a Pacific splashdown in December. After years of delays and billions in cost overruns, the Space Launch System rocket thundered skyward, rising from Kennedy Space Center on 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of thrust and hitting 100 mph (160 kph) within seconds. The Orion capsule was perched on top and, less than two hours into the flight, busted out of Earth’s orbit toward the moon.

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LONDON (Reuters) - British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Wednesday he has requested an independent investigation into two formal complaints about his behavior, the latest case of alleged bullying to put pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Raab said he had been notified of two separate complaints, one from when he was foreign minister and one from his previous tenure as justice minister. Some officials who have worked for him say he was a tough and demanding boss, with others being quoted by local media as saying he was rude, aggressive and a bully. Raab has denied the allegations.

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ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s navy has seized a foreign ship and detained 27 foreigners who are charged with operating illegally on Nigerian waters and attempting to export crude oil without clearance, a senior official said on Wednesday. The foreigners are being held on court orders following their arraignment in a local court in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, according to Nigerian Navy spokesman Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan. Some of the foreigners were arraigned on Tuesday after being charged with an “attempt to deal in export (of) crude oil without license or authorization.” They included 16 Indians and nationals from five other countries including Sri Lanka and Poland, Ayo-Vaughan said.

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NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — A passenger ferry carrying 271 people caught fire Wednesday off Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, but there were no immediate reports of casualties and evacuation efforts were ongoing, rescue officials said. The Mutiara Timur I was carrying 236 passengers and 35 crew members when it caught fire in the Bali Strait, about 1.5 kilometers (a mile) from Karangasem beach. Dozens of rescuers, navy sailors and local fishermen were trying to evacuate people to two navy ships and and there were no immediate reports of injuries, said Bali’s search and rescue agency head Gede Darmada.