7 SHOT TO DEATH IN MISSOURI RAMPAGE

TYRONE, Missouri, U.S.A. -  A gunman killed seven people and wounded an eighth person in an overnight house-to-house rampage in a small Missouri town before apparently committing suicide in a vehicle, authorities said Friday.

The victims were found in four homes in Tyrone, about 40 miles north of the Arkansas line. 
The 36-year-old gunman was discovered in a neighboring county, dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Kinder(photo) said.

Kinder gave no information on a motive for the shootings or whether the gunman and the victims were connected. The names of the dead were being withheld until their relatives could be notified.

"This is a horrific tragedy, and our hearts go out to the victims of these senseless acts and their families," Gov. Jay Nixon said. He said crisis counseling will be made available to students and others.

The Texas County Sheriff's office received a call about 10:15 pm Thursday from a young woman who said she had fled to a neighbor's home after hearing gunshots in her house, Kinder said. When officers arrived, they found two people dead.

Officers later found five more people dead and one wounded in three other homes. The wounded person was taken to a hospital.

The victim's condition was not disclosed.

The body of an older woman was found in another home, but she appeared to have died of natural causes, Kinder said, adding: "We're not calling her a victim at this time."

Source: Agency

A MALAYSIAN WOMAN’S LIFE NOW A NIGHTMARE AFTER FB PHOTOS USED IN SEX AD?

KOTA KINABALU, Sabah, East Malaysia - A 25-year-old woman claims that her life is now a living nightmare after personal details and pictures from her Facebook account were published in pamphlets advertising sex services.
The woman, who only wished to be known as Jellyn, said the pamphlets were distributed here as well as in Penampang and surrounding areas.
"The first time I got a call asking for sex services was in December. At first, I thought it was a joke but the calls kept coming until I had to switch off my handphone.
"I only realised how serious it was when my elder daughter saw the pamphlets," said the mother of two.
The callers, said Jellyn, had also told her that the pamphlets, which contained her and her husband's phone numbers and their house address, could be found all over.
"I quit my job as a handphone SIM card vendor after that. It is terrifying. I am afraid for my family's safety," she said, adding that her daughters, aged five and seven, did not know about her ordeal.
Jellyn said she and her husband Ong, 29, who is from Johor, lodged police reports on Dec 18 and Feb 19.
They had also lodged complaints with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission but they were advised to hire a lawyer.
"We do not know who has done this as we don't have any enemies. We hope the police can help us catch the culprit and stop this nightmare," she said.
Penampang OCPD Deputy Supt Azmir Abdul Razak said police were investigating the case.

Source: Agency

SECURITY TIGHTENED AT INDIA CAPITAL CITY’S CHURCHES AFTER ATTACKS

NEW DELHI, India - The Indian government said on Wednesday it had boosted security around hundreds of churches in New Delhi after a spate of attacks on religious institutions unnerved minority Christians . 

Days before, hundreds of Christian protesters had clashed with police on the streets of New Delhi to demand government protection following concerns that minorities were being increasingly targeted by Hindu extremist groups. 

Since December, five churches in the capital have reported incidents of arson or theft. On Wednesday, a church in the southern state of Karnataka was vandalised, a police official in the city of Mangalore told Reuters. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a declared Hindu nationalist, vowed earlier this month to protect all religious groups at an event organised by the Catholic community -- a long-awaited reassurance widely seen as a response to the violence. 

After Modi came to power last May, systematic campaigns by conservative groups to convert Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, as well as acts of vandalism and theft at churches, have outraged religious minorities. 

About a fifth of India's 1.27 billion people identify themselves as belonging to faiths other than Hinduism.

Source: Reuters

BRITAIN HUNTS 80,000 BABIES FOR MASSIVE SYUDY?

LONDON - Britain has launched an ambitious study that will follow 80,000 children from cradle to grave to prepare healthy individuals for the future.

The Life Study project aims to track a generation of 21st century babies and work out which factors in their early lives are important in shaping their health and wealth as they grow into adults, the scientific journal Nature reported.

The British project comes on the heels of a similar US project called the National Children’s Study that ended in an expensive failure.

Researchers argue that new “birth cohorts” are needed.

Children born today, at least in most Western countries, enter a world that is increasingly warmer, more digitised, more ethnically diverse and more obese, with wider income inequality than it was even a decade ago.

• Researchers involved in the British study say that they hope to learn from the challenges faced by their US counterparts — they have a clear study design and recruitment strategy — and that they are keen to collaborate internationally.
• The major concern is whether enough interested parents will sign up, something that will become apparent only in the next few months.
• The scientists plan to squirrel away freezers full of tissue samples, including urine, blood, faeces and pieces of placenta, as well as reams of data, ranging from parents’ income to records of their mobile-phone use and videos of the babies interacting with their parents.

The US National Children’s Study aimed to follow 100,000 children from birth to age 21, but was cancelled in December 2014 before it was fully launched — 15 years and $1.2 billion (Dh4.4 billion) after its inception.

The US scientists had started to recruit parents and children, but the study struggled to find a clear scientific direction, had trouble enrolling participants and racked up eye-watering costs.

Source: Indian Journal...News in full...

SABAH, MALAYSIAN BORNEO GETS TOURISM BOOST FROM NEW YORK TIMES

KOTA KINABALU, Sabah, Malaysia  - Two recent New York Times (NYT) reports on Sabah are likely to give a much-needed boost to efforts to woo Ameri­cans to the state.
The stories written by NYT's investigative writer Ian Urbina that appeared on Feb 12 and 18 were deemed positive for Sabah.
This is a good promotion to Americans who have never heard of Kota Kinabalu, or still undecided whether to visit the state, said Sabah, state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.
He hope the article would let Americans know that Kota Kinabalu is an exotic destination that is a good alternative to other more well-known destinations.
He also commended the writer for commenting about the negative side of the city that he saw while travelling here last August and November.
"The report reminds us of one of our biggest challenges in tourism - cleanliness. We need to think of better ways to keep the city and our sea clean," said Masidi.
"We also need to improve our sewerage system," he said in referring to the instance where the writer noted the occasionally "rancid stench" on the city waterfront, a clear suggestion that there is untreated sewage being discharged into the bay.
Masidi said the articles debunk perceptions that the whole of Sabah was unsafe to visit.
"It shows that Sabah is not just about Sipadan Island, off the east coast district of Semporna. It has many awesome attractions even within the capital itself," he said.
Urbina described the City Mosque situated near Likas Bay here as "majestic", and he also had his first tangle with our durian, which he described as "a slimy fruit which tasted like mushy, spoiled onion".
The writer also commented on the multiracial makeup of Sabah's society, and appeared to enjoy the natural attractions around Gaya island, 
Pulau Sapi,and Pulau Manukan.

Source: asiaone

CHARLIE HEBDO TEAMS BITES BACK WITH NEW ISSUE?

PARIS, France – More than a month after jihadist gunmen massacred much of the Charlie Hebdo editorial staff, the magazine is back at work with another savage swipe at its favourite enemies.

The cover of the latest issue due out Wednesday depicts the Pope, a jihadist, former president Nicolas Sarkozy and far-right politician Marine Le Pen as a pack of enraged animals chasing after a dog with a copy of Charlie Hebdo clamped in its jaws.

“We’re back!” reads the headline.

The team has lain low since rushing out a “survivors’ issue” a week after the jihadist attack that killed 12 people, including five of France’s best-loved cartoonists, on January 7.

“We needed a break, a rest… There were those who needed to work again straight away, like me, and those who wanted to take more time,” says Gerard Biard, the paper’s new chief editor.

“So we reached a compromise, and agreed on February 25… to start off again on a weekly basis.”

Charlie Hebdo has a long history of courting controversy by lampooning political and religious figures of all stripes.

The Kouachi brothers who carried out the January 7 attack said they were taking revenge for the weekly’s depictions of Prophet Mohammed — considered blasphemous in Islam.

In a show of defiance, the magazine’s “survivors’ issue” featured Mohammed on its cover with a tear in his eye, holding a “Je Suis Charlie” sign under the headline “All Is Forgiven”.

“Je Suis Charlie” was the slogan taken up around the world to express solidarity with the weekly.

Some eight million copies were printed, a stunning number for a publication that had been struggling to stay afloat with a circulation of just 60,000 before the attack.

But the January 14 cartoon once again stirred anger, triggering violent protests in several Muslim countries.

A print run of 2.5 million is planned for the new edition.

Source: Agency, USA Today

MALAYSIAN BORN ASTROPHYSICIST ALLEGEDLY PAID TO WRITE DOUBTFUL CLIMATE CHANGE REPORTS

 

A Malaysian Kangar-born astrophysicist took money in exchange for writing allegedly doubtful reports on climate change, the international media has claimed.
In a New York Times report, Dr Willie Wei-Hock Soon was alleged to have received more than US$1.2mil (RM4.36mil) from the fossil fuel industry over the past decade.
The report added that Dr Soon, who claimed that global warming was linked more to the sun than human factors, failed to report these contributions in his research.
"At least 11 papers he has published since 2008 omitted such a disclosure, and in at least eight of those cases, he appears to have violated ethical guidelines of the journals that published his work," the report claimed.
Dr Soon currently works with the US-based Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Some of these fossil-fuel industry contributions, the report added, were from The Southern Company, Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and Donors Trust.
These documents on Dr Soon were obtained by environmental group Greenpeace via the United States Freedom of Information Act.
In 2013, The Guardian reported that anonymous billionaires allegedly donated some US$120mil to more than 100 groups to cast doubt on the climate change debate from 2002 to 2010.
This money was supposedly sent via two trusts, namely Donors Trust and the Donors Capital Fund.
A 2011 Reuters report said that Dr Soon also received US$131,000 from oil and gas company Exxon Mobil group in 2007 and 2008 to study the sun's role in climate change 

and global warming in the Arctic.

• The article also quoted Dr Soon at the time as confirming that he received funding, but that it did not influence his reports.
• The New York Times added that Dr Soon has had little training in climatology, but has been cited by some conservative US politicians in the sceptical side of the climate change debate.
• It was reported that the centre's director Charles R. Alcock said Dr Soon had violated some of the journals' disclosure standards.
• In a 2005 interview with The Star, Dr Soon said he was against "current alarmism" on environmental issues that supposedly misused science as covers.
• "I want to find more time and fresh ideas to attempt a more serious book on the subject of global warming and various environmental concerns that are often blown off proportion," he said at the time.

Soon added that society seemed to be moving from science-by-evidence to science-by-public appeals, adding that the public would be ignorant if this "alarmism" was not "corrected and dispelled".
Born in Kangar, Perlis in 1966, Dr Soon attended the Khoon Aik primary school in Kangar, and moved on to the Syed Sirajudin and Dato Sheikh Ahmad secondary schools in Jejawi and Arau respectively.
He left Malaysia at age 14, and currently resides in the US.

Source: The Star

THE PROVOCATION OF INSIL PROPOGANDA

Over the past six months, the armed group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has honed its propaganda arm, and the content that it produces has grown more gruesome. 

Earlier this month there was the video of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burnt alive. That was followed this week by footage that shows 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians being beheaded in Libya. 

 It was the first time ISIL has released material that was filmed outside of its territories in Syria and Iraq. Each video – more compelling, visual and violent than the last - has drawn more countries into the fray. In this week's lead piece we look at the intensifying media battle gripping the Middle East.

Source: Al Jazeera

GAZAN HOMES FLOODED CAUSED BY ISRAEL’S DAMS OPENING

At least 80 Palestinian homes have been flooded after water levels in the Gaza Valley (Wadi Gaza) rose to almost three meters, forcing families to evacuate after Israeli authorities opened several dams. 
The Gaza Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Sunday that civil defence services had worked alongside teams from the Minsitry of Public Works to evacuate families to shelters in al-Bureij refugee camp and in al-Zahra neighbourhood sponsored by UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency. 
Brigadier Gerneral Said Al-Saudi, chief of the civil defence agency in Gaza, told Al Jazeera: "Israel opened water dams, without warning, last night, causing serious damage to Gazan villages near the border. More than 40 homes were flooded and 80 families are currently in shelters as a result."

He added that the dam opening would adversely affect local agriculture as the flooded area included Gazan poultry and animal farms.
"We are appealing to human rights organisations and international rights organisations to intervene to prevent further such action.'' A major storm in the region has previously brought freezing rain to Gaza and snow across parts of the Occupied Territories and Israel.

Muhammad Al-Midana, spokesman for Gaza civil defence told news agencies that water flowing at high speed from the Israeli border poses a risk of further flooding.
This could be exacerbated if further dams in the area are opened.

Gaza has been under siege since 2007.

Source: Al Jazeera

BANGLADESH FERRY WITH 100 PASSANGERS CAPSIZED, 16 CONFIRMED DEAD

PATURIA, Bangladesh – Sixteen people including a baby are confirmed dead and rescuers are still searching for missing passengers after a ferry collided with a cargo ship and sank Sunday in a Bangladesh river, officials said.

It was the second deadly boat accident in less than a fortnight in the country, which has a history of ferry tragedies.

Rescue workers had recovered 16 bodies including an infant and two women, local administrator Rashida Ferdous told AFP, adding that she did not know the exact number of people missing.

She said a salvage vessel was on its way to raise the sunken vessel, adding that the master of the cargo ship and two other crew had been arrested.

Survivors said the twin-deck MV Mostofa was carrying between 70-150 passengers when it capsized in the middle of the Padma river, local police chief Rakibuz Zaman told AFP.

“Some 50 people swam ashore or were rescued by other vessels,” he added.

The vessel was reportedly heading to the town of Paturia in Manikganj district, some 70 kilometres (50 miles) from the capital Dhaka, from Rajbari district.

Local newspaper Prothom Alo quoted one survivor, Hafizur Rahman, as saying the cargo ship hit the boat 15 minutes after departure — causing it to overturn and trapping many passengers.

“I was on the deck of the ferry and fell into the river. Those who were on the deck were able to come out but none of the passengers inside could get out,” Rahman said.

Bangladeshi ferries do not normally keep passenger lists, making it difficult to establish how many are missing after an accident. 

The Padma river is one of the largest in the delta nation. Boats are the main form of travel in many of Bangladesh’s remote rural areas, especially in the south and northeast.

Source: The Times Of India...More...

HOT SPELL IN MALAYSIA CASTS ITS MARK ON CEMETERY

GEORGE TOWN, Penang, Malaysia -  The dry spell has not “spared” even those who have passed on.

Thick smoke billowing from a bush fire that broke out at a cemetery in Batu Lanchang could even be seen kilometers away.

The hot weather and wind conditions caused the fire to spread rapidly, covering an area of 4.05ha within the cemetery grounds.

A Perak Road fire and rescue department spokesman said that the department received a call at 12.49pm and a team of eight firefighters from the station reached the place at about 1pm.

He said that the firemen were also assisted by a voluntary fire fighting squad from Paya Terubong.

“The fire was successfully put out using water and fire beaters at about 4.30pm,” he said when contacted yesterday, adding that there were no casualties in the incident.

He said that the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it is believed that it could have been caused by irresponsible people who set fire to kill the weeds.

“The current dry spell and wind conditions had caused the fire to spread,” the spokesman said.

Curious motorists also slowed down along Lorong Batu Lanchang, causing traffic congestion there.

Source: The Star

ANTARCTIA, THE MYSTERY CONTINENT HOLDS KEY TO MANKIND’S FUTURE?

DECEPTION ISLAND, Antarctica - Earth’s past, present and future come together here on the northern peninsula of Antarctica, the wildest, most desolate and mysterious of its continents. 
Clues to answering humanity’s most basic questions are locked in this continental freezer the size of the US and half of Canada: Where did we come from? Are we alone in the universe? What’s the fate of our warming planet?
The first explorers set foot in Antarctica 194 years ago hunting 19th century riches of whale and seal oil and fur, turning tides red with blood. 
Since then, the fist-shaped continent has proven a treasure chest for scientists trying to determine everything from the creation of the cosmos to how high seas will rise with global warming.
“It’s a window out to the universe and in time,” said Kelly Falkner, polar programme chief for the US National Science Foundation.
For a dozen days in January, in the middle of the chilly Antarctic summer, The Associated Press followed scientists from different fields searching for alien-like creatures, hints of pollution trapped in ancient ice, leftovers from the Big Bang, biological quirks that potentially could lead to better medical treatments, and perhaps most of all, signs of unstoppable melting.
The journey on a Chilean navy ship along the South Shetland Islands and vulnerable Antarctic Peninsula, which juts off the continent like a broken pinky finger, logged 1,340 kilometres, and allowed the AP team a first-hand look at part of this vital continent. 
Antarctica conjures up images of quiet mountains and white plateaus, but the coldest, driest and remotest continent is far from dormant. About 98 per cent of it is covered by ice, and that ice is constantly moving.
Temperatures can range from above zero in the South Shetlands and Antarctic Peninsula to the unbearable frozen lands near the South Pole. As an active volcano, Deception Island is a pot of extreme conditions.
There are spots where the sea boils at 100 degrees Celsius, while in others it can be freezing at below zero degrees Celsius. And while the sun rarely shines on the long, dark Antarctic winters, night-time never seems to fall on summer days.

Source: The Washington Post...More...