NEPAL QUAKE TOLL CROSSES 2,200, CONTINUE CLIMBING
KATHMANDU, Nepal - Sleeping in the streets and shell-shocked,
Nepalese cremated the dead and dug through rubble for the missing Sunday, a day
after a massive Himalayan earthquake killed more than 2,200 people, reports AP.Aftershocks tormented them, making buildings sway and sending panicked Kathmandu residents running into the streets.
The cawing of crows mixed with terrified screams as the
worst of the aftershocks - magnitude 6.7 - pummelled the capital city. It came
as planeloads of supplies, doctors and relief workers from neighboring
countries began arriving in this poor Himalayan nation.No deaths or injuries were reported from the early Sunday afternoon quake, but it took an emotional toll.
Earlier an official in Nepal said that at least 2,152 people
are now confirmed dead in the massive earthquake that hit just outside of
Kathmandu.A 7.9 magnitude temblor struck Nepal before noon on Saturday and was most severely felt in the capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley. Aftershocks are rippled through the region Sunday, spreading fear and panic.
The biggest of the aftershocks was magnitude 6.7 and sent people yelling and running for open ground on Sunday.
Source: Gulf News...More...
MALAYSIAN POLICE NABBED 12 ARMED MEN LINKED TO ISLAMIC STATE, EXPLOSIVE SEIZED
PETALING JAYA, Malaysia - Police have arrested 12 suspects linked to
the Islamic State (IS) militants who were planning attacks in the Klang Valley,
according to Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar on Sunday.
In a two-day crackdown, the Inspector-General of Police said
the 12 men, aged between 17 and 41, had planned to launch attacks on
"strategic" and “high-value targets”.
“On Saturday and Sunday, the Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division in an operation in Hulu Langat, Selangor and Cheras arrested members of a terror cell suspected to have links to the IS.
“The plan was a response to a call by the IS central leadership in Syria to attack high-value targets of importance to secular Islamic nations which they claim to be their enemies," said Khalid.
Chemicals used in explosives were also seized. It included
about 20kg of ammonium nitrate and a similar amount of potassium nitrate.
Other items seized were an IS flag, two remote control units, alarm motors, wiring, four nine-volt batteries, a digital scale, two measuring cups, and three pieces of PVC piping.
Khalid said the men had been arrested for offences under the Penal Code and would be investigated under the provisions of the Special Offences (Security Measures) Act.
In a two-day crackdown, the Inspector-General of Police said
the 12 men, aged between 17 and 41, had planned to launch attacks on
"strategic" and “high-value targets”. “On Saturday and Sunday, the Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division in an operation in Hulu Langat, Selangor and Cheras arrested members of a terror cell suspected to have links to the IS.
“The plan was a response to a call by the IS central leadership in Syria to attack high-value targets of importance to secular Islamic nations which they claim to be their enemies," said Khalid.
Chemicals used in explosives were also seized. It included
about 20kg of ammonium nitrate and a similar amount of potassium nitrate.Other items seized were an IS flag, two remote control units, alarm motors, wiring, four nine-volt batteries, a digital scale, two measuring cups, and three pieces of PVC piping.
Khalid said the men had been arrested for offences under the Penal Code and would be investigated under the provisions of the Special Offences (Security Measures) Act.
Source: The Star
MALAYSIA’ FIRST NET PROVIDER JARING IN LIQUIDATION?
Malaysia's first internet provider Jaring Communications Sdn
Bhd has been put under the care of a liquidator after a court order last
Thursday.Dr Mohamed Awang Lah, the former Jaring chief executive officer said he was sad that the entity he had helped to start back in 1986 under the name RangKoM, later launched as Jaring in 1992, had been left to deteriorate into the present condition.
Jaring was also a subsidiary of Mimos and subsequently taken over by the Finance Ministry in 2007.
In August last year, Jaring was reportedly bought over by Utusan Printcorp for over RM100 million.
A few months later in October, The Malaysian Insider
reported some 70 Utusan Printcorp staff held a protest to demand their unpaid
salaries which was three months in arrears. Jaring staff were also among those
reported not to have received their pay.Jaring was among three contractors that received a full payment of RM88.13 million by the Ministry of Communication and Multimedia for an incomplete broadband project
in Sabah and Sarawak, according to the first
series of the Auditor-General's Report 2014.
Source: Agency
POWERFUL NEPAL QUAKE KILLS 449
A powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 magnitude struck west of
the ancient Nepali capital of Kathmandu today causing buildings to collapse,
injuring many and leaving a pall of dust over the city, witnesses said.The death toll from a powerful quake that struck Nepal on Saturday has risen to 449, most of it in the Kathmandu Valley, police said.
“The number of dead so far is 449,” police deputy inspector
general Kamal Singh Bam said.At the main hospital in Kathmandu, people with broken limbs and arms were being rushed in for treatment. It was unclear how many people were injured.
A Reuters reporter in Kathmandu said he had seen some buildings collapse and walls of several houses reduced to rubble.
An historic tower built in the 19th century in Kathmandu collapsed, trapping at least 50 people, Nepal media reported.
The Dharara Tower, built in 1832, had been open to visitors for the last 10 years and had a viewing balcony on its eighth floor.
Tremors were felt as far away as New Delhi and other northern cities in India, with reports of tremors lasting almost one minute.
“Massive tremors have been felt here in Delhi and several other parts of India,” said a newsreader on NDTV in Delhi.
Source: Reuters
WOMAN STRIPS TO AVOID PAYING FOR CHICKEN RICE IN MALAYSIA?
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - An unidentified woman stripped off her
clothes to avoid paying for a meal worth around RM18 in Petaling Street.The woman went to a chicken rice restaurant with a man around 3pm on Thursday, Apr 23.
A nearby stall owner identified only as Wong said the woman had two plates of chicken rice before trying to leave without paying.
"When the restaurant operator tried to stop her, she
denied having eaten there."However, she was shown a CCTV recording of her eating in the restaurant, so she started stripping to avoid paying," said Wong, who runs a jewellery stall beside the restaurant.
A video of the woman taking off her top was uploaded on YouTube a few hours after the incident but has since been taken down.
Witnesses said the woman's companion, described as a Caucasian, got into a scuffle off camera with the restaurant operator when she was not allowed to leave.
The duo reportedly fled when policemen arrived at the scene.
Source: –The Star
3 POLICEMEN ARRESTED IN INDIA FOR RAPING MODEL
MUMBAI, India – Police in Mumbai have arrested three
officers who allegedly raped a model in a police station and then demanded
several thousand dollars as blackmail to keep quiet, a deputy commissioner said
today.Three other men have also been arrested after the 29-year-old woman said the officers bundled her into a car as she was leaving an upmarket hotel in India’s financial capital on April 3.
Deputy commissioner Dhananjay Kulkarni said the woman has
alleged she was then driven to a police outpost and raped by the officers
before they extorted up to 500,000 rupees from her.Local media have reported that the woman’s friend had gone to the police station to deliver the money after traveling to several ATMs in the night.
The woman reportedly sent a text message to Mumbai’s police commissioner Rakesh Maria several days later alerting him to the incident, before meeting him to give more details.
- India introduced tough laws against sex offenders in the wake of the fatal gang-rape of a Delhi student in the capital in December 2012 that sparked mass street protests.
- But sexual violence against women has continued at frightening levels throughout the country.
Source: – AFP
MALAYSIA MAHATHIR SAYS 1MDB FUND VANISH, DEMANDS PM RESIGN
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian former Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad on Thursday launched the fiercest yet in a series of attacks on the
country's prime minister, demanding he account for the disappearance of billions
of dollars borrowed by state fund 1MDB, or resign.
"It is this disappearance of a huge amount of borrowed
money by 1MDB and the inability to answer questions regarding what happened to
the funds that disqualifies Najib from being prime minister of Malaysia,"
the 89-year-old wrote in his blog.Najib Razak chairs the advisory board of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a power plant and property fund whose 42 billion ringgit ($11.58 billion) debt has weighed on Malaysia's sovereign rating and the ringgit in recent months.
However, the prime minister has ordered an audit of 1MDB's accounts by the country's Auditor General.
Source: AsiaOne
CROWDS DENOUNCING ATTACKS ON MIGRANTS IN S. AFRICA
Soldiers were deployed in Johannesburg this week to aid
police in operations against hostels in Johannesburg's Alexandra township
housing South African men who are accused of targeting migrants from Zimbabwe,
Malawi, Mozambique and other African countries.Many immigrants have been forced to flee their homes and abandon their small shops as marauding mobs hunted down foreigners at night.
Over 5,000 people from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique,
Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi still seek refuge in displacement
camps, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said in a statement.He said, Injured Malawian and Zimbabwean men told medics that they are too afraid to openly seek medical treatment for their wounds and fractures for fear of further attack.
In central Johannesburg several thousand demonstrators marched
to protest against a spate of deadly
attacks on immigrants.Crowds sang songs denouncing xenophobia and carried banners that read "We are all Africans" on Thursday.
The marchers passed through neighbourhoods that are home to many immigrants, a large number of whom come from other African countries. Migrant workers crowded balconies, shouting their support.
Source: Al Jazeera
ZUNAR HEADS CARTOON EXHIBITION ON ANWAR, MALAYSIAN POLITICAL ISSUES
Malaysian political cartoonist Zunar is leading a group of 20
cartoonists in an exhibition on Saturday to highlight economic and political
issues as well as the plight of jailed opposition leader, Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim.Not cowed by the actions taken against him, including nine sedition charges for criticising the Federal Court's decision to uphold Anwar's sodomy conviction, Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, said the exhibition would also touch on issues such as the Sedition Act, the goods and services tax (GST), Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), the prime minister and his wife, the private jet and others.
- He said the exhibition, which would feature his work and the works of other members of the Independent Cartoonist Group (KKI), was part of the “Selangor Cartoon World – Right to Creativity” programme jointly organised by the Selangor government and Petaling Jaya City Council.
- The event will be held on Saturday, from 9am to 6pm, at Tasik Taman Jaya, Petaling Jaya.
It will also host other programmes open for public
participation such as caricature, cartoon drawing workshop, a sketch corner, as
well as drawing and colouring competition for children.Other cartoonists are Megat, Baba, Aku Napie, amn, Bai, mrsyed, A.Z, Haili, JOCA, Sukhbir Cheema, Art Saad, Benny Loh, Brado Otai, Kafang, Tuyuk, Orang-Orang, Jonos dan Siti Atikah.
Zunar has been hounded by the police over the years, and was probed under the Sedition Act, the Printing Presses and Publications Act and the Penal Code, over his satirical cartoons that poked fun at Barisan Nasional leaders.
Source: The Malaysian Insider...More...
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