ANOTHER 'GATEWAY TO HEL'L DISCOVERED IN UYGUR CHINA
A spectacular, fiery volcanic crater has been discovered in
the western hills of Urumqi, in western China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous
region, CCTV's Sina Weibo reported.Burning away at a sizzling 792 degrees Celsius, steam rises from the incandescent, 150cm-wide crater, which has no visible bottom.
"The ash could be seen rising from the volcanic crater
all the time since I came here three years ago," said a worker at a nearby
construction site.The strange sight has been dubbed the 'Gateway to Hell' by local netizens.
The intense heat and bright orange glow of the hole led to it being nicknamed the "Gateway to Hell", a similar moniker to the "Door to Hell" natural gas fire in Turkmenistan which has been burning continuously for over 40 years.
It is in fact caused by the combustion of an underground coal bed, according to the report.
A warning sign has been placed around the crater to alert people to keep away.
This isn't actually the first time a pit like this has opened up in the region either, especially given that the area had once been home to an active coal mine back in the 1970s.
This one however is unlikely to be around for much longer as
concerns over fumes emenating from the hole have prompted authorities to begin
efforts to seal it off.
"The air blasting out of the hole is so hot, that if you hold a branch
near to it it bursts into flames," said geologist Hu Tan.
Source: China News
VLADIMIR PUTIN’S RUSSIA A VIRUS THAT MUS BE CONTAINED?
Chess champion Garry Kasparov outplayed nearly everyone in
the world for 22 years. Today the Russian grandmaster is taking on his most
formidable opponent, President Vladimir Putin."Putin's Russia is a virus. You don't engage the virus, you have to contain it," he told me.
Kasparov is one of four debaters Friday night in Toronto questioning the West's response to Russia: 'engage or isolate?'
He's been fiercely
critical of the west's "failure" to effectively take on Putin. He
likens the Russian leader's political tactics and power to Adolf Hitler's in
the years leading up to the Second World War."Putin has his finger tip on a nuclear button," says Kasparov. "The only thing he cares about today is staying in power, and staying in power for him means he must demonstrate himself as the only saviour of Russia."
"Regimes like Putin's do not allow robust opposition to function," he says.
"At the end of the day, it's all about the middle class in Moscow recognizing Putin's rule brings Russia to a dead end and there is no
other choice but to rise up."
Source: BBC...More...
MALAYSIAN MP’S ALLAWONCE RAISE TO 146 PERCENT
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia Parliamentarians have passed a Bill to raise their allowance
from RM6,508 to RM16,000, a 146 percent jump.The Members of Parliament (Remuneration (Amendment) Bill was initially deferred for its second reading in last November after lawmakers sought to review the quantum of increase.
On Nov 28, MPs from both sides of the political divide
agreed to relook the revision that will increase the allowance from RM6,508 to
RM11,000.The Bill, passed by the House yesterday without any objections, will also see the allowances for Senators increased from RM7,000 to RM11,000.
The allowance for the Senate president and the Dewan Rakyat
Speaker was also raised from RM20,000 to RM31,000, while their respective
deputies will see theirs revised to RM22,000, up from the initial proposal of
RM16,000.Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said the new allowances would see the cost to the Government increasing from RM14.75mil to RM31.97mil a year.
MPs' salaries have been revised in 1992, 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005. In the 2005 review, their basic pay was increased from RM5,916.90 (in 2002) to RM6,508.59, which is not inclusive of other benefits such as a RM1,200 driver's allowance.
Source: AsiaOne
MALAYSIAN SEDITION BILL PASSED AFTER A RECORD 14-HOURS DEBATE
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Debate on the Sedition (Amendment) Bill 2015 broke records when it was passed after 14 hours of debate.
The debate began at 11.30am yesterday before being approved at 2.30am today based on a voice vote.
Among the main issues heatedly debated by MPs included concerns that
the Act might lead to abuse of power following the definition of
“seditious tendency” in the bill that is deemed less clear and may lead
to abuse by the authorities when the Act is enacted.
Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi(photo) when winding up debate on the bill,
however, said there would be no abuse of power in enforcing the Act
because a case will be brought to court only after the prosecution has
strong evidence.
- “This is because a person arrested and investigated under the Act may not necessarily be prosecuted in court.
- “The matter is up to the Attorney-General. If he is confident there is a case, a prosecution will be made. We have many cases whereby police investigated but prosecution was not done by the Attorney-General’s Chambers,” he said.
- On the definition of sedition, Ahmad Zahid said it had been stated clearly under the bill in question.
Ahmad Zahid when winding up debate also stressed several times that
the move to retain the Sedition Act 1948 was necessary to protect the
interest of the people regardless of race and religion to prevent
something untoward from happening in the country.
“This is because the Act, which had been used for a long time, has
been proven to be effective in facing issues which were seditious in
nature in ensuring the peace enjoyed all this
while is preserved,” he
added.
– BERNAMA
US POLICE CONTROVERSIAL RECENT KILLINGS OF BLACKS
The recent high-profile deaths of unarmed blacks during
police operations shed light on the lack of data on police killings in the
United States.However, according to Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson a recent FBI Uniform Crime Report estimated that police officers committed 461 “justifiable homicides” in 2013.
Because of under-reporting, this figure is probably much
higher, he argued in a recent column, mentioning an estimate of 1,000 victims
per year according to a compilation of local news reports.The following is an example of cases where local police lethal force killing the blacks civilian's alleged crime, and how the officer attempted to resolve the situation before the killing;
April 2015: Walter Lamer Scott, 50, is shot eight times in
South Carolina as he runs away from Officer Michael Slager. Mr Scott dies at
the scene. The shooting is captured on video and Mr Slager is charged with
murder.
December 2014: Jerame Reid, 36, is shot dead during a
routine traffic stop in New Jersey. An officer claims Mr Reid was reaching for
a gun, but video footage seems to suggest he was attempting to step out of the
car, hands raised.
November 2014: Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy, is shot dead
in a playground by Cleveland police after a local resident reports he is
pointing a gun at passers by. The gun turns out to be a toy. A grand jury will
decide whether police will face charges.
August 2014: Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, is shot
dead by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting leads to
protests, first in Ferguson and later nationwide. A grand jury decides not to
charge Mr Wilson.
July 2014: Eric Garner, an asthma sufferer, is stopped by
police in New York and placed in a chokehold after refusing to be handcuffed.
He dies despite repeatedly telling officers he cannot breathe. No police are
charged.
March 2014: James Boyd, an unarmed homeless man camping in
Alberquerque, is shot dead by two officers. Video of the incident leads
prosecutors to say the officers acted with "deliberate intention" and
they are charged.
The issue was put on the agenda after police officers
recently killed unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York City, and a
number of other cities across the United States.
The issue was put on the agenda after police officers
recently killed unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York City, and a
number of other cities across the United States.
Legislation requiring the Justice Department to collect data
on the number of victims of police operations has been introduced by a United
States Democrat on Monday. U.S.
Representative Steve Cohen, a top Democrat in
the House Judiciary Committee, argued that this measure was necessary since the
Justice Department did not keep any record of police killings.
Source: BBC, Telesurtv
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