Philippines Finds Headless Body Near Site Where Militants Executed Canadian

JOLO, Philippine – Villagers in the southern Philippines found a headless body on Wednesday, an army spokesman said, two days after the execution of a Canadian captive by Islamist militants, condemned as a “cold-blooded murder” by Canada’s prime minister. 

Security is precarious in the southern Philippines, despite a 2014 peace pact between the government and the largest Muslim rebel group that ended 45 years of conflict. 

Canadian John Ridsdel, 68, a former mining executive, was captured by Islamist militants along with three other people in September 2015 while on vacation on a Philippine island. 

This week, the Philippine army said a severed head had been found on a remote island on Monday, five hours after the expiry of a ransom deadline set by the militants, who had threatened to execute one of four captives. 

Residents found the head in the centre of Jolo town. 

An army spokesman said two men on a motorcycle were seen dropping a plastic bag containing the severed head. Police confirmed the head to be that of Ridsdel. 

• Army spokesman Major Filemon Tan said a headless body was found in a dried creek, near the jungles where Ridsdel was believed to have been beheaded by militants belonging to the Abu Sayyaf group. 
• “We are still verifying if the body is that of John Ridsdel,” Tan told reporters, adding that a police forensics team was conducting tests. “There were no blood stains in the area, suggesting the body was not beheaded in the area.”
•  Abu Sayyaf is a small but brutal militant group known for beheading, kidnapping, bombing and extortion in the south of the mainly Catholic country. Ridsdel, 68, and three others, including a Norwegian and another Canadian, were abducted seven months ago in the southern Philippines. 
• They had appealed in a March video for their families and governments to secure their release. In the video, they said the militants had threatened to behead one of them if the 300 million pesos (£4.39 million) ransom for each of them was not paid by Monday. 

The initial demand was one billion pesos each. Hours after Abu Sayyaf carried out its threat, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau(photo) condemned the execution as “an act of cold-blooded murder.

” Other foreigners held by Abu Sayyaf include one from the Netherlands, one from Japan, four Malaysians and 14 Indonesians. 

In the capital, Manila, Rodrigo Duterte(photo), a front-runner in the presidential elections next month, told businessmen, “Kidnapping has to stop. It is destroying our country and it is destroying our country’s reputation.” 

 Source:– Reuters

Eight killed As 'Golf Ball' Hailstones, Storms Lash Myanmar

YANGON: The freak storms struck across five states in Myanmar on Friday and Saturday after weeks of heatwave temperatures regularly topping 40C (104F). 

"From what we know now there are eight people killed and 7,500 houses destroyed during these days," Phyu Lei Lei Tun, director of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, told AFP, adding that the toll may increase as more information becomes available. 

Violent storms which saw hailstones the size of golf balls rain down across Myanmar have killed at least eight people in recent days, toppled pagodas and damaged thousands of buildings, officials said Sunday. 

Six of the victims died in Yay Tha Yauk village in the central region of Mandalay after flash flooding. Other regions that were struck included Sagaing and Magway as well as the states of Shan and Chin. 

Pictures and TV footage showed huge hailstones crashing onto flooded streets and clattering off metal roofs as residents rushed for shelter. 

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said more than 1,700 pagodas were damaged by gale- force winds in the southern state of Shan on Friday night.

Pictures on social media showed some of the pagoda spires, which were hundreds of years old, lying shattered on the ground. Like much of the Greater Mekong region, Myanmar has been hit by drought in recent weeks amid a particularly fierce dry season. 

Source: AFP

Malaysian Muhyiddin Wants RoS To Verify His Suspension From UMNO?

Former deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has asked for a confirmation from the Registrar of Societies (RoS) on whether his suspension as Umno deputy president is valid. 

Speaking at a meet and greet session at Kampung Biah in Kadok today, he said he has escalated his query to RoS to verify the authenticity of his suspension. 

"My suspension was not in accordance with the Umno constitution and I have sent a letter to the RoS seeking an explanation as to whether my suspension was valid and in accordance with the party’s constitution," he said. 

He said RoS will determine if the Umno supreme council had overstepped its constitutional powers when it abruptly suspended him as deputy president in February this year.

Source: New Straits Times

Will Brazil Fill The Olympic Stands?

This year, Brazil is scheduled to open its arms to people from all over the world for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

With the Games nearly three months away, the country is facing a series of unprecedented challenges: the Zika virus outbreak, which has been connected to a rare birth defect; a crippling recession that has left hundreds of thousands unemployed and sent inflation through the roof; and a political crisis that has implicated some of the country's most powerful lawmakers. 

Now, President Dilma Rousseff may have to step down amid allegations of fiscal mismanagement, leading many to ask: Will the Olympics even happen? 

According to organizers at the International Olympic Committee, the Games should not be affected by the current crisis. 

The IOC said it is closely following the impeachment situation, but stressed that the effects of such a controversy would likely be minimal. 

"These kinds of political issues have much less influence than at other stages of organizing the Olympic Games," the IOC said. 

Source: CNN

Mahathir Seeks Court Order To Freeze Najib's Assets

KUALA LUMPUR,Malaysia - Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, calling for Prime Minister Najib Razak to resign over the 1MDB state fund scandal, has applied for a court order to freeze Najib's assets, Mahathir's lawyers said on Tuesday. 

The lawyers said in a statement Mahathir was also seeking a court order for Najib to disclose all assets held under his name as well as under the names of his nominees. 

Mahathir, along with two others, filed a suit in March against Najib alleging corruption and abuse of power. 

The lawsuit also accused Najib of interfering in several probes into debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB Najib has come under criticism over allegations of graft and mismanagement linked to 1MDB and deposits of about $681 million (S$915 million) into his personal bank account. 

He has denied any wrongdoing and maintains that he did not use the funds for personal gain.

In January, Malaysia's attorney-general cleared Najib of any criminal offence. 

Mahathir was joined in the lawsuit by Khairuddin bin Abu Hassan and Anina binti Saadudin, former members of the ruling United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) party which Najib heads. 

The three, citing misfeasance and breach of duty, are seeking exemplary damages from Najib to the government of 2.6 billion ringgit and aggravated damages of 42 million ringgit - equal to the amounts that were deposited into Najib's account. 

Source: Asia One

Natural Disasters Have Caused 8 Million Deaths, US$7 Trillion Worldwide Since 1900

Vienna – Natural disasters have caused more than US$7 trillion (RM27.1 trillion) in economic damage worldwide since 1900, with floods and storms accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the total, researchers said yesterday. 

The death toll from such natural calamities — which also include earthquakes, volcanoes, droughts, heatwaves and wildfires — topped eight million from 1900 to 2015, according to findings presented at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna. 

More than a third — 38.5 per cent — of the economic damage, and just over half the loss of life was the result of flooding, according to James Daniell, an Australian  risk engineer at the  Karlsruhe  Institute of Technology 

in Germany.

“Flooding is the key driver” for economic loss and death, said Daniell, who has catalogued 35,000 disasters over 115 years, the largest such database in existence. 

Since about 1960, storms and storm surges — the exceptional waves they cause — have replaced flooding as the most destructive forces, battering buildings and infrastructure. 

• Whether this shift was due to climate change was impossible to say, he told AFP. 
• “When we go back in time, the record is not complete,” he said on the sidelines of the annual gathering of about 13,000 Earth and space scientists. 
• “We probably have floods and storms from the 1930s or 1940s, for example, that never came into the database.
• ” The frequency of other natural disasters — notably earthquakes, which accounted for 26 per cent of losses, and volcanoes, which caused one percent — remained fairly constant over time.

Earthquakes accounted for nearly 30 per cent of deaths, some 2.3 million people over the 115-year period. Of those fatalities, nearly 60 per cent died when buildings collapsed, while about 28 per cent perished in a tsunami or landslide. 

Overall, the annual cost of economic losses due to natural disaster has increased progressively over time, the study found. 

But as a percentage of the rising value of all infrastructure on the ground — currently estimated at some US$300 trillion — losses have actually declined, Daniell said. 

Source:AFP

Ecuador Quake Toll At 272, ‘Certain To Rise’

Some 10,000 troops and 3,500 police are being deployed in the affected areas, as rescue operations continue.

The magnitude-7.8 quake struck on Saturday evening. Coastal areas in the north-west were closest to the epicentre and officials say the death toll is likely to rise as information begins to come in.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has cut short a visit to Italy to deal with the crisis. He has declared a state of emergency and said the priority is finding survivors.

"Everything can be rebuilt, but lives cannot be recovered, and that's what hurts the most," he said.

• Ecuador's Vice-President Jorge Glas, visiting one of the worst-hit cities, Manta, met a resident who pleaded for people trapped under rubble.
• "We cannot go in with heavy machinery because it can be tragic for the wounded," Mr Glas told him.

Helicopters and buses are ferrying troops north but have been hampered by landslides. In some areas people are using their bare hands to try to dig out survivors.

Source: BBC...More..., Agency

4 Indonesians kidnapped By Pirates, Vessels Hijacked

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia says four of its nationals have been kidnapped and another shot in the hijacking of a tugboat and barge in the waters near the border with Malaysia and the Philippines. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry says in a statement Saturday that the gunshot victim and five other crew members escaped the hijackers and are now in Malaysia.
The ministry says the incident happened early on Friday evening. It comes after the kidnapping in March of the 10-member crew of an Indonesian tugboat and barge in the often insecure border region between the southern Philippines and Indonesia. 

In that case, the owner of the hijacked tug boat received telephone calls, purportedly from the militant group Abu Sayyaf, demanding a ransom. 
Authorities believe the 10 Indonesians are held captive in the Philippines. 

 Source: AP

Women In Singapore Spend $1K Every Month On Shoes

A new survey taken of 1,000 women in Singapore and Malaysia found that the average Singaporean woman will spend around $204,000 on footwear in her lifetime.  

Of that $204,000, nearly 59 percent, or $120K, is spent on pricy designer shoes. Two-thirds of those surveyed in Singapore admitted to saving up a secret stash of about $1,000 ever single month to spend on shoes alone — about two times more than Malaysians.  

But that’s not to say that Singaporeans are switching up their shoes every day. In fact, eighty-nine percent admitted they own shoes they’ve worn fewer than five times, and 46 percent have shoes they’ve never worn, ever.  

In comparison, a 2014 study found that the typical American gal shills out approximately $20,557 on shoes in her lifetime — nearly $124,000 less than her Singaporean counterparts. 

Then again, women in Singapore do live, on average, four years longer than Americans. So… that accounts for some extra spending, right? The main takeaway from all this? 

If Sex and the City 3 ever actually happens… they might want to consider sending footwear fiend 

Carrie Bradshaw to Singapore.

Source: Agency

Unhappy Rayani Air Customers Storm Airline Office In Malaysia

SHAH ALAM, Selangor, Malaysia - A total of 600 customers flooded the Rayani Air headquarters in Section 15 here yesterday, according to the airline. 

Customers, who now have to find new ways to get to their destinations after the airline was given a three-month suspension, were here to claim their refunds. 

Some were lucky enough to find chairs and tables to fill in their forms inside Rayani’s small office, while others had to make do with the cement steps outside the second floor office. 

However, all those who spoke to The Star said they were satisfied with the airline staff’s service on the refund matter. 

“They were very apologetic,” said a police officer known as Safuan. He had booked a ticket to fly home to Kota Kinabalu for the Raya holidays and said he may have to wait 20-days for the airline to refund him.

“They were very patient and understanding. But if you ask me whether I want to fly with them again, probably not. They have caused me a lot of trouble,” he said. 

This is the third time customer Fazlee Abdullah has had to meet with the airline’s service staff over problems with his flight. However, he said he was willing to give them another chance. 

“They are new, so maybe we have to understand,” he said. 

Nik Azida Nik Mahmood from Kelantan was livid, claiming that the customer service here would not refund her RM750 tickets in cash as promised earlier. 

“They said in the news I could get my refund in cash but now I have to wait for 30 days for them to transfer it into my bank account,” she said 

 Source:  The Star

Woman On FBI’s ‘Most Wanted’ List Detained?

Mexico City – Mexican officials said they have captured a woman on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list who US officials say ordered the murder of a romantic rival who had been dating her former lover. 

Brenda Berenice Delgado Reynaga, 33, was detained at a home in the northern city of Torreon, in Coahuila state, Mexico’s attorney general’s office said. 

Delgado, a Mexican citizen, was sought by US authorities for her role in the “murder-for-hire” of Kendra Hatcher, a dentist in Dallas, Texas on Sept 2, 2015.

“Apparently she was jealous because the victim was dating her ex-boyfriend,” said FBI special agent Jason Ibrahim, according to the bureau’s “Most Wanted” posting. 

Delgado has been charged with capital murder, and a federal fugitive warrant was issued in October last year. 

Officials said the alleged killers hired by Delgado are already in US custody. 

• Even though Delgado did not pull the trigger, she “is still responsible for the murder,” said Thomas Class, another FBI agent.
• Once notified of the US arrest request, Mexican authorities said they searched for Delgado “in places where her relatives and friends could help” in northern Mexico and Mexico City.

Delgado is only the ninth woman to make it onto the FBI’s list of infamous fugitives since its creation in 1950. 

She is being held in the Santa Martha Acatitla prison in Mexico City while the extradition request is being completed, the Mexican statement added.

Source: AFP

Singaporean Man Torches Himself In Front Of Malaysian Clinic?

JOHOR BARU, Malaysia - A Singaporean man torched himself in front of a clinic along Jalan Harimau in Taman Century Johor Baru. 

The 42-year-old man had, prior to the 9am incident yesterday, bought four litres of petrol for RM8 (S$3) from a petrol station just two metres away from the clinic. 

 

Johor Baru South OCPD Supt Sulaiman Salleh said the victim told the pump attendant that his car was out of petrol and it was parked near the clinic.

"After filling up a plastic container with petrol, he walked to the clinic at Jalan Harimau and torched himself there and ran to a nearby hotel before falling into a drain," he said. 

Supt Sulaiman said the police did not know why the victim torched him颅self and urged witnesses to come forward. 

He said the victim, who suffered serious burns, was in critical condition and still unconscious at the Hospital Sultanah Aminah here. 

Source: Asia One