and almost
2,000 other dignitaries and members of the public for the service at
Sydney’s Town Hall.MALAYSIA ACCUSED OF HACKING INTO US NEWS WEBSITE?
The United States-based Environment News Service accused
Malaysian government hackers of shutting down its website after it ran a story
on a new book implicating a senior politician in alleged graft."The attack on our site came from a Malaysian government entity as identified by their IP address," Sunny Lewis, editor-in-chief of Environment News Service (ENS), said in an email statement, adding the attack shut down its servers for two hours.
The hacking came after the news service ran a story about
plans to publish Lukas Straumann's (pic) book, "Money Logging: On the
Trail of the Asian Timber Mafia" despite demands by a law firm
representing Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud, a stalwart of the ruling coalition, to
withhold publication.Taib, 78, governor of Sarawak and a powerful member of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, has faced mounting accusations of enriching himself and his cronies through a
stranglehold on the state's economy, charges
which he denies.The book "Money Logging" investigates the massive destruction of the Borneo rainforest by Malaysian loggers, described by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown as "probably the biggest environmental crime of our times".
Malaysian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Sarawak is among Malaysia's poorest states, but Swiss-based
forest protection group Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) says Taib could be worth as
much as US$15 billion (RM50 billion), which would make him one of the world's
richest people.Authorities in Sarawak have previously threatened to jam Radio Free Sarawak broadcasts that focus on alleged graft by the state government.
Source: AFP
THOUSAND PAY TRIBUTE TO AUSTRALIAN EX-PM WHITLAM
SYDNEY, Australia - Thousands of mourners turned out for the memorial service of
former leader Gough Whitlam on last Wednesday, hailing him as a remarkable
politician who helped shape modern Australia, including Prime Minister
Tony Abbott who was booed.
Abbott was joined by six former Australian leaders, Papua New Guinea
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, Hollywood star Cate Blanchett and almost
2,000 other dignitaries and members of the public for the service at
Sydney’s Town Hall.
and almost
2,000 other dignitaries and members of the public for the service at
Sydney’s Town Hall.
Many more watched the proceedings on a large screen in front of the
building, with the crowd cheering for past and present Labor leaders
while heckling others from the ruling Liberal Party, most notably
Abbott.
Four air force jets marked the occasion in a brief flyover above
Sydney’s central business district in the “missing man” formation.
- “The Whitlam touch is on us all. He touches us in our day-to-day lives, in the way we think about Australia, in the way we see the world,” said Graham Freudenberg, a close friend and former speech-writer for the Labor prime minister, who died last month aged 98.
- “He touches, still, the millions who share his vision for a more equal Australia, a more independent, inclusive, generous and tolerant Australia, a nation confident of its future in our region and the world.”
- Although Whitlam was in power for only three years — from 1972 to 1975 — before being controversially sacked, he launched sweeping reforms of the nation’s economic and cultural affairs.
Academy Award winner Blanchett spoke of how some of Whitlam’s reforms,
including free tertiary education and health care, helped her pursue a
career as an actress.
“I was but three when he passed by but I shall be grateful ‘till the day I die,” Blanchett said.
“The effect on the geo-cultural, political map of Australia made by
Gough Whitlam is so vast that wherever you stick a pin in you get a
wealth of Gough’s legacy.”
Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson also hailed Whitlam’s achievements,
adding that they might never be repeated again by modern-day governments
“whose priorities are to retain power rather than reform”.
Whitlam’s oldest son, Tony, a former politician and judge, said his
family was greatly touched by the outpouring of affection and respect
from the public.
On Monday, a message of condolence to Whitlam’s family from Pope
Francis was reportedly read out at a memorial mass in Rome, The Sydney
Morning Herald said. Whitlam established diplomatic relations with the
Vatican in 1973.
Source: AFP
OIL PRICES DOWN IN ASIAN TRADE
Oil prices fell in Asia Friday
after the OPEC oil cartel slashed its longer-term global demand outlook,
while a stronger dollar also weighed, analysts said.
The
benchmark US futures contract, West Texas Intermediate for December
delivery, dropped 36 cents to $77.55 while Brent crude for December
eased 52 cents to $82.34 in afternoon trade.
The
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries estimated in its
annual world outlook Thursday that demand for its crude will fall from
just above 30 million barrels per day in 2013 to 28.2 million in 2017,
before starting to rise again.
The 12-nation group said the United
States and Canada are the primary drivers of non-OPEC output growth, in
part due to shale-oil production.
Singapore's United Overseas
Bank said "US and global crude prices resumed its decline" after the
release of the report, adding to heavy losses earlier this week owing to
price cuts by Saudi Arabia.
Prices were also under pressure from the stronger US dollar.
The
US dollar bought 115.31 yen in late-morning Asian trade, from 115.16
yen in New York Thursday afternoon. The greenback has surged against the
yen since last Friday, when the Bank of Japan ramped up its stimulus
programme.
A stronger greenback makes dollar-priced commodities
like oil more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies, which in
turn tends to hit demand and prices.
Investors are also keeping an
eye on the release of October non-farm payrolls data Friday that is
expected to paint an optimistic picture of the US economy.
Initial
jobless claims fell 10,000 to to 278,000 in the week ending November 1,
the lowest level in 14 years, the US Labor Department said Thursday.
"The
very positive weekly jobless claims data reinforced expectations for a
potentially strong US October jobs report today which could bring
forward rate hike expectations," UOB said.
Source: AFP
‘KISS OF LOVE’ IN INDIA MOVES FROM KERALA TO KOLKATA
KOLKATA, India - After Kochi, Kolkata has witnessed
its own version of ‘Kiss of Love’ organised mostly by students of two
universities to show solidarity against those affected by moral policing
and to promote gender equality.
Forming human chains, holding
placards, enacting skits and indulging in public displays of affection,
students of the prestigious Jadavpur and Presidency universities hosted
the “Kiss of Love” event in the city, to protest against much-derided
moral policing.
the “Kiss of Love” event in the city, to protest against much-derided
moral policing.
Alleging the “rise of
religious fundamentalism and fanaticism”, student activists participated
in a protest rally in Jadavpur, while in north Kolkata, a large number
of students of the Presidency University gathered in front of the iconic
Indian Coffee House on College Street holding placards as a show of
support for the movement that started in Kerala.
“The state or the country
cannot dictate whether or not an individual can kiss in a public place
or get into a relationship with a person of a different caste. We will
do what we feel like,” one of the organisers, Bandana Mondal.
“Kiss of Love” was meant to protest against
the vandalism of the Downtown Cafe restaurant in Kozhikode by activists
of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (Youth Brigade) claiming “immoral
activities” were encouraged there.
In Kochi, as many as 80
people were arrested after they hit the streets to protest against
police harassment and moral policing at public places.
“Love has no
boundaries and it cannot be confined on the basis of gender, caste,
religion. Irrespective of our sexes, we kissed each other as a mark of
protest against the rising instances of moral policing,” Jadavpur
student Nabottama Pal, one of the key organising members said.
- Pal said plans were afoot to organise a “kiss of love” event involving students across the country.
- “It is time to protest against encroachment on our personal liberties and freedom of expression. I want freedom to choose whom and where to kiss. It is individual right. To kiss is the highest form of affection and I should decide who will get it from me. So we are protesting against the moral policing. We don’t want to fight with them and we are trying to spread the message of love,” said a student who participated in the protest along with her brother.
- “This protest is to show our solidarity with the movement which started in Kochi. We are in touch with the organisers in Kochi for guidance,” another student commented.
- Though many agreed, that such one-day protests will not change anything as a section of society will always try to force people in the name of Indian culture and stop them from expressing themselves openly.
“The entire society has to
come together or else people will try to curb our freedom. Such violence
occurs in Mumbai during Valentine’s Day. Now people in Kerala are
suffering.
This trend to curve individual freedom has not entered
Kolkata, but at times police is seen attacking couple who tend to
express affection in public. This must stop,” another protester said.
Source: Agency
A SERIAL KILLER ON LOOSE IN THE STATE OF MALAYSIAN PENANG?
GEORGE TOWN, Penang, Malaysia - Universiti Sains Malaysia
criminologist Associate Prof Dr P. Sundramoorthy said they could not rule out any
possibility, even that of a serial killer on the loose in the state of Penang.
“Whether it’s ritualistic, serial, non-serial or crime of
passion, we cannot rule out anything,” he said.
There have been a series of killings in Penang, with
numerous bodies being found wrapped in blankets.
Just three days after the headless body of a woman identified
as that of Halimahtusakdiah, 33, from north Sumatra was found floating off the
sea here.
Another woman was
found brutally murdered. The body, believed to be that of a foreigner, was found
without a head and legs.
The torso and the arms were found stuffed into a luggage bag
in Jalan Kebun Bunga here.
Penang Hospital’s senior consultant forensic pathologist
Datuk Dr Bhupinder Singh described the victim as a young and obese adult.
She died of ligature strangulation as there were marks on
her neck. Her head and lower body were severed after she died, he said after performing a post-mortem on the victim.
Source: The Star
S. AFRICAN POLICE BEING ROBBED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT?
South African police yesterday admitted two
officers were robbed of their guns and locked in their own van in the middle of
the day – and it was all caught on camera.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The incident happened mid-afternoon on Tuesday while the
officers stopped for lunch at a busy roadside food stall in a northern
Johannesburg township, said a police spokesman.
The robbery was caught on the closed circuit television
camera of a nearby business.
The footage shows four men casually walking past the police
van and then disappearing from view beneath a tarpaulin where the officers were
eating lunch.
They reemerge seconds later with the officers in tow, forcing
them into the back of the vehicle.They lock the van and then ran off. The entire robbery takes less than a minute.
Police spokesman brigadier Neville Malila said members of
the public helped the officers out of the car. The police then called for backup
and a chase ensued.
“The suspects lost control of their vehicle and fired
several shots at the police who returned fire,” said Malila. “No injuries were
reported.”
Three of the suspects were arrested and three firearms
confiscated, including the two the gang had just stolen from the police.
Source: AFP.
SODOMY II IS THE LONGEST MALAYSIA CRIMINAL APPEAL HEARING AT FEDERAL LEVEL
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The Federal Court's hearing of Opposition leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's
appeal against his sodomy conviction enters its seventh day today, making it
the longest criminal appeal hearing at the apex level.
Criminal lawyers told The Malaysian Insider that appeals for
criminal cases at the Federal Court usually last three days.
The court had originally fixed October 28 and 29 to hear
submissions by the defence and prosecution in Anwar's case, where the opposition
leader is appealing a conviction for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful
Bukhari Azlan.
The hearing was extended due to the volume of submissions,
with the defence and prosecution taking about three days each.
The prosecution, led by government-appointed private lawyer
Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, completed submissions on Tuesday by painting
Saiful as a victim of sexual abuse and laying the burden of proof on the
defence to prove the sodomy.
Anwar's defence team, led by retired Federal Court judge
Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, will give a closing reply this morning.
Co-counsel Sangeet Kaur Deo is expected to begin the closing
statement with rebuttals to Shafee on DNA evidence.
The defence is seeking to restore the findings 
by the trial
court, which acquitted Anwar, that the DNA evidence tendered in the case was
inconclusive.
by the trial
court, which acquitted Anwar, that the DNA evidence tendered in the case was
inconclusive.
Police presence outside the Palace of Justice courthouse in
Putrajaya today is the strongest yet in all the days of the hearing.
Speaking to The Malaysian Insider, Putrajaya OCPD ACP Abdul
Razak Abdul Majid declined to give exact numbers but said "there are
enough personnel to handle any incident".
Strike Force personnel were seen gathering some
distance away from the courthouse.
Source: The Malaysian Insider
WINDOWLESS AIRPLANES FOR FUTURE FLIGHTS?
High up at 30,000 feet off the ground, it seems almost
impossible for airplanes to do without windows.But what if it is a possibility of the future? Imagine a 'windowless' aircraft and 360-degree panoramic views all around you.
A new innovation by the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI),
a UK-based technology association, has re-imagined a plane without clunky
overhead cabin compartments hanging above you and without tiny aircraft 
windows
- that typically offers only a restricted view of the skies outside.
According to The Guardian, how this works is that airplane windows could be replaced with "full-length organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) screens displaying panoramic views captured by cameras mounted on the plane's exterior" in the future.
The firm claims this next-generation aircraft will be more
fuel-efficient, will help to lower consumers' cost and enhance passengers'
in-flight experience.
According to CPI, over three billion people fly around the world each year, using 220,000 gallons of fuel and producing over 705 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
This type of aircraft can be more cost and fuel-efficient because "removing the windows from the aircraft would reduce its weight and
therefore the cost for the passenger and airline", the firm said.
Other attributes of what passengers can do on the screen include reflecting your preferred view of the outside, which can change in accordance with where your eyes are looking at.
They can also order meals by tapping on the screen and carry information which can be shown on a mobile phone.
According to The Guardian, developments in OLEDs and the windowless plane could even lead to "smart packaging" for medicines or food.
windows
- that typically offers only a restricted view of the skies outside.According to The Guardian, how this works is that airplane windows could be replaced with "full-length organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) screens displaying panoramic views captured by cameras mounted on the plane's exterior" in the future.
The firm claims this next-generation aircraft will be more
fuel-efficient, will help to lower consumers' cost and enhance passengers'
in-flight experience. According to CPI, over three billion people fly around the world each year, using 220,000 gallons of fuel and producing over 705 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
This type of aircraft can be more cost and fuel-efficient because "removing the windows from the aircraft would reduce its weight and
therefore the cost for the passenger and airline", the firm said. Other attributes of what passengers can do on the screen include reflecting your preferred view of the outside, which can change in accordance with where your eyes are looking at.
They can also order meals by tapping on the screen and carry information which can be shown on a mobile phone.
According to The Guardian, developments in OLEDs and the windowless plane could even lead to "smart packaging" for medicines or food.
Source: The Guardian
150 FOREIGNERS IN SINGAPORE SENT TO JAIL FOR FALSE CREDENTIALS
SINGAPORE - Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin(photo) has revealed
that about 150 foreigners in Singapore have been sent to jail since 2012 for
false credentials.He said this in a written reply to a question raised in Parliament by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Gerald Giam Yean Song.
Mr Giam, from the Workers' Party, had asked the minister
what are the Government's plans to facilitate credential checks on foreigners
coming to work in Singapore, in light of cases of foreigners on employment
passes who have been revealed to have used false fake credentials.Mr Tan said that the Government had tightened its legislation in 2012 and increased penalties for making false statements or submitting false documents in support of work pass applications.
Offenders may
be fined up to $20,000, and may be imprisoned up to two years.He said that since 2012 to the first half of this year, the Government has successfully prosecuted about 150 foreigners, and that all those prosecuted were sentenced to imprisonment terms, and had their work pass revoked and barred from working in Singapore.
He also said that the Government has stregthened its credential checks by supplementing checks with third-party overseas screening agencies and verifying certificates directly with issuing institutions.
Source: AsiaOne
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
