FMT News |  |
- Obama urges Congress to pass mortgage plan
- Libya launches weapons collection drive
- UN: Myanmar leader promises to ‘address’ ethnic tensions
- Chinese premier calls on people to back Communist Party
- Qatar Airways flight makes emergency landing in Nigeria
- Saudi group to set up Syrian refugee camp in Turkey
- Toll from Spain floods rises to 10
- US citizen among Everest air crash dead: airline
- Typhoon Jelawat on course to hit mainland Japan
- N Korea says South provoking clashes for vote gain
- Iran: Israel already passed own nuclear red line
- 5 reasons you’re still single
- Restoran dipantau berikutan pengurangan subsidi gula
- Turn it into a heritage site, settlers tell PM
- Vexed parents warn of hunger strike
- Diskaun PTPTN: Manfaat untuk segelintir peminjam
- Najib: Jangan tuduh k’jaan bersifat populis
- MIC hails Indian allocation in Budget
- Accept Anwar’s debate dare, Karpal tells Najib
- Why no exam question on butt dance?
- Ibu bapa demo tuntut bangunan sekolah baru
- RPGT hike ‘acceptable’, say developers
- PKR to probe ‘cocky, arrogant, tokong’ issue
- Pemimpin NGO didakwa pecah amanah
- Fomca: Peniaga dinasihat tidak naik harga makanan
- Battle for Tambunan: Pairin unshakable?
- Fixated on numbers?
- Budget 2013: Don’t be taken for a ride
- No Pakatan feud over seats
- GE only after February, say analysts
- Chinese chambers disappointed with Budget
- Crime index: Perception is everything
- ‘No tax on smokes will cost Najib votes’
- Mancini says wobbly City can retain title
- Ferguson rules out England return for Rio
- Woods takes rare rest at Ryder Cup
- USA dominate first day of Ryder Cup
- Beckham back at work after ankle sprain
- McLaren chief says Hamilton wrong to leave
- Kean “forced to resign” at Blackburn
- Ferdinand reveals hate campaign over Terry case
- Hamas urges Barca-Real boycott if Shalit attends
- Ferrer fights hard to reach Malaysia semi
- Win tickets for Spector concert
- US intelligence now says Benghazi attack ‘deliberate and organized’
- At UN, Muslim world questions Western freedom of speech
- Obama, Netanyahu seek to get past Iran differences
- US plan for emergency Egypt aid hits roadblock
- Trial of Pope Benedict’s former butler to start today
- US drops Iranian MEK dissident group from terrorism list
| Obama urges Congress to pass mortgage plan Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:31 AM PDT  WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama yesterday urged Americans to pressure Congress to pass his mortgage refinancing plan, arguing it would help working families and strengthen the middle class.“Show up at their town hall and tell them that when Congress comes back to Washington, they better come back ready to work,” Obama said in in his weekly radio and Internet address. “All of you are doing everything you can to meet your responsibilities. It’s time Congress did the same. The comment came after new statistics released this past week showed that US home prices had risen for the third straight month in July, jumping 1.6 percent over the previous month. The monthly gain was a fresh sign that the industry has climbed out of its second recession in home prices since the housing bubble collapsed in 2006-2007, pulling the US economy down with it. All 20 major urban areas in the S&P/Case-Shiller price index showed net price gains, the strongest in Minneapolis and Detroit. Obama said the housing market was “healing,” but acknowledged that it was going “to take a while for our housing market to fully recover.” He argued that his plan, sent to Congress in February, would give every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgages by refinancing at lower rates. In addition, the president said, it would help the country’s economic recovery and create new jobs. “When folks are spending less on mortgage payments, they’re spending more at local businesses,” Obama pointed out. “And when those businesses have more customers, they start hiring more workers.” - AFP |
| Libya launches weapons collection drive Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:31 AM PDT  TRIPOLI: Hundreds of Libyans turned over their weapons at collection points in the capital and the eastern city of Benghazi yesterday following rallies which called for disarmament and the disbanding of militias.A steady trickle of men surrendered their weapons to national army troops stationed in Tripoli’s Martyrs Square and in Benghazi’s Freedom Square, AFP journalists reported. “We are astonished by the positive turnout,” said Colonel Hussein Abdullah Khalifa in Tripoli, adding that the initiative was galvanised by anti-militia rallies pressing for a united army held in Libya’s two largest cities this month. Tripoli campaign organiser Ziad Hadia told AFP that “more than 100 people had turned in light, medium and heavy weapons as well as ammunition ranging from bullets to tank shells” in the first half of the day. “We also received three heat-seeking missiles,” he added, while one person had come forward with a tank which is to be delivered to the army later at an undisclosed location. In Benghazi, the army tallied more than 200 weapons, an AFP journalist said. Those numbers represent just a tiny fraction of the arms that spilled out of the arsenals of toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi but it was seen as a step forward in a country where many cling to their weapons citing insecurity. “To achieve security we must take the first step ourselves,” said Mustafa Abu Hmeid, a 23-year-old mechanic clutching a rifle, a treasured spoil of the 2011 conflict which ended in Kadhafi’s ouster and death. Housewife Mariam Abu Swera expressed relief: “As long as there are arms on the streets, I can’t move freely or go about my normal life, so we really welcome this step.” The collection drive is a collaboration between the national army and private television station Al-Hurra, which drummed up support through its live broadcasts from Tripoli and Benghazi. Organisers in both cities will raffle off prizes, including two cars, at the end of the day-long collection. They said the process was not a one-off event and would be repeated to include other cities. A September 11 attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, including the US ambassador, was followed by mass anti-militia protests in the city, increasing pressure on Libyan authorities to tackle insecurity. - AFP On Friday, hundreds of people rallied in Tripoli in support of a national army and against armed groups. |
| UN: Myanmar leader promises to ‘address’ ethnic tensions Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:31 AM PDT  NEW YORK: Myanmar’s President Thein Sein promised UN leaders he would tackle ethnic unrest between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state which has raised widespread international concern, the UN said yesterday.Thein Sein made the vow in a meeting with UN leader Ban Ki-moon at the end of the UN General Assembly summit, where Muslim leaders have led calls for action to help tens of thousands of Islamic followers displaced by the unrest. Ban and Thein Sein discussed the fighting in Rakhine “and the immediate and long-term perspectives to promote intercommunal harmony and address the root causes of the tension there,” said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky. “The president confirmed the country would address the long-term ramifications of this question,” he said. Ban also called for “concerted efforts” to end the government’s war with ethnic rebels in Kachin in the north of the country where the Thein Sein has led reform efforts over the past two years. The Myanmar leader vowed before the UN General Assembly that he would seek to tackle the problems in Rakhine state. Since fighting in Rakhine state in June almost 90 people, both Buddhists and Muslims, have been killed, according to an official estimate, although rights groups fear the real toll is much higher. Human Rights Watch has accused Myanmar forces of opening fire on stateless Rohingya Muslims during the violence — an accusation denied by the government — prompting concern across the Islamic world. Thein Sein has been in New York at the same time as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and in a landmark speech to the General Assembly praised her efforts for “democracy.” The UN talks included “political reforms as well as socio-economic development and national reconciliation,” the spokesman said. “The secretary general commended the president’s political vision and leadership and encouraged him to continue to focus on the reform process and on its consolidation.” Ban organized a ministerial meeting of the Friends of Myanmar group on Friday with representatives from the United States, European Union and Asian states. Ban’s special advisor on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, said ministers noted “the progress made by the government of Myanmar” since the last meeting one year ago. “We hope it will continue and result in the strengthening democratic institutions and forging peace with all ethnic and religious groups in the country,” Nambiar told reporters. |
| Chinese premier calls on people to back Communist Party Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:31 AM PDT  BEIJING: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called yesterday for his people to unite in support of the Communist Party and its outgoing leader, President Hu Jintao, ahead of a pivotal congress to usher in new leadership.The announcement comes amid a damaging political scandal involving Bo Xilai, a senior party boss who is to stand trial for a litany of crimes including abuse of power and improper sexual relations. “Let us rally more closely around the CPC central committee with comrade Hu Jintao as the general secretary,” said Wen in a speech that came two days before the 63rd anniversary of the proclamation of People’s Republic. Hu will handover power as head of the party to Vice President Xi Jinping during the congress on November 8, but will remain the country’s president until next March. The congress will allow the party to “open new perspectives on development,” Wen told an audience of some 2,000 diplomats and officials gathered at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square. Both Bo’s fate and the date of the congress had been the subject of intense speculation over whether China’s biggest political intrigue in decades would unsettle the highly choreographed leadership change. The announcement on Bo marked an unprecedentedly harsh public rebuke for a Chinese Communist official as authorities looked to lay to rest the damaging episode that shocked China and saw Bo’s wife convicted of murder. State media yesterday lauded the party for putting on a forceful display of unity by expelling Bo, but web users denounced the case as a sign of deep-rooted corruption. In his speech, Premier Wen, who will also give up his position as head of government next spring, recapped his party’s achievements in expanding economic growth but said more needed to be done. “We have followed the overall guideline of making progress while ensuring stability, strengthened and improved macro regulations and given greater priority to stabilising growth,” he said. But, he added: “While recognising achievements, we must always keep a cool head. Our country is still at the primary stage of socialism and the productivity is not high.” He also touched upon foreign policy, amid an ongoing territorial dispute with Japan over remote islands in the East China Sea which has seen relations between the two countries plummet. - AFP “We will firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Wen vowed. |
| Qatar Airways flight makes emergency landing in Nigeria Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:31 AM PDT  LAGOS: A Qatar Airways flight from Doha safely made an emergency landing in Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos yesterday after encountering a problem with one of its tyres, the civil aviation body said.“The plane has landed safely,” said Harold Demuren, the head of Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority. “We lost one of the tyres.” The aircraft landed at the cargo terminal of Murtala Mohammed International Airport and was then towed to an area where passengers were able to disembark, officials and an AFP reporter said. Qatar Airways flight QR592 was travelling the regular Doha-Lagos route and reported the tyre problem to Nigerian airport authorities, said Demuren, who identified the aircraft as an Airbus A330. He told AFP that no passengers were injured during the emergency landing and that one of the plane’s tyres had to be replaced. A mechanic at the airport said one of the plane’s left tyres was flat. Three passengers who were on board told AFP that the crew had made no announcements about a mechanical problem during the flight. “They landed safely. There was no problem. I didn’t notice any other thing,” said Raphael Ashala, 30, a Nigerian who was on his way back from a Doha business trip. Emergency vehicles including fire trucks were on hand for the landing, the AFP correspondent said. The airline’s online tracker said the flight arrived in Lagos at 2:29 pm (1329 GMT), but the plane touched down at least 30 minutes before that. The website made no mention of any incidents during the journey, saying only that flight QR592 had “arrived.” In June, a McDonnell Douglas-83 operated by Dana Air plunged into a neighbourhood near Lagos airport after reportedly suffering double engine failure. The crash killed all 153 passenger and crew as well as at least six people on the ground. - AFP |
| Saudi group to set up Syrian refugee camp in Turkey Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:31 AM PDT  ANKARA: A Saudi charity group will build a container city that can house 10,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey’s Kilis province near the border, a Turkish official said yesterday.The project of the Saudi National Campaign to Support Brothers in Syria is expected to be ready within a month, the official told AFP. When opened, it will be the second camp in Kilis, already home to the largest container city for 12,000 refugees. The Saudi organisation will also set up a prefabricated hospital, said the official, declining to give funding figures. The Sunni-ruled kingdom has taken a strong stance against the escalating bloodshed in Syria and thrown support behind the Syrian opposition. Turkey shelters more than 80,000 registered refugees in several camps in the southeast region bordering Syria as well as army defectors. - AFP |
| Toll from Spain floods rises to 10 Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:31 AM PDT  MADRID: Ten people, including a young girl and an elderly woman, have died in Spain as a result of floods brought on by downpours, regional officials said yesterday.Five people died in the Andalusia region – a woman in her 80s, a couple found in their car, a man who died of a heart attack and another man in the village of Archidona, near Malaga. Five people have also died in the neighbouring region of Murcia. They were two men whose bodies were found on Saturday, a 10-year-old girl and two men who were drowned in their cars the day before. In the region of Valencia, 35 people were injured after a tornado ripped through a funfair at Gandia, according to local press reports. Some 500 people were evacuated from their homes after the torrential rains caused rivers to break their banks and flooded roads and railways, regional authorities said. Most of the evacuees were returning home Saturday to clear up the mess with the help of local authority workers. The rains drenched the south of the country before moving east and eventually north. The ports of Valencia and Sagunto, which were ordered shut during the downpours, reopened on Saturday, local authorities said. Two cargo ships ran ashore on the beach at El Saler, near Valenica. - AFP |
| US citizen among Everest air crash dead: airline Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:30 AM PDT  KATHMANDU: A tourist named among the Chinese victims when an Everest-bound airplane crashed in the Nepalese capital, killing all 19 on board, had United States citizenship, the airline said yesterday.The twin-propeller Sita Air plane had just taken off on Friday from Kathmandu and was headed to the town of Lukla, gateway to Mount Everest, when it plunged into the banks of a river near the city’s airport around daybreak. Student Wu Hui, 27, of California, was named among five Chinese dead in the crash, which also killed seven Britons, but Sita Air said his passport recovered at the crash site revealed he was an American of Chinese origin. “One American citizen of Chinese origin was among the 12 foreigners who died in the Sita Air crash yesterday,” Sita Air spokesman Deependra Shahi said. “Seven Britons, four Chinese and seven Nepalis including three crews are the other deceased in the crash. The trekking agency is in touch with us and some relatives have arrived Kathmandu to collect the body of the deceased Britons. “We are expecting to be in touch with (the) Chinese side too for the handover of the bodies.” Nepal said Saturday an error by a “panic-stricken” pilot was a likely cause of the Dornier 228 crashing. “The pilot’s failure to maintain the required radius is a likely cause of the accident,” said senior ministry official Suresh Acharya, adding the plane turned too sharply because it had not gained enough altitude. - AFP |
| Typhoon Jelawat on course to hit mainland Japan Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:30 AM PDT
Violent winds up to 234 kilometres per hour have injured at least 56 people, including a person in Okinawa who lost a finger as a door slammed shut on it due to strong winds, national network NHK said. The Okinawa Prefecture Police said it had counted at least 30 cases of typhoon-caused injuries as of late Saturday afternoon. Okinawa Electric Power said some 331,500 households in the island prefecture have suffered power outage. Winds have flipped over cars and blocked streets, adding to traffic chaos that included cancelled flights and ferries. As of 0700 GMT, the typhoon was 30 kilometres south of Okinoerabu island, off Kagoshima prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. It was moving northeast toward Tokyo at a speed of 30 kilometres per hour, with gusts and heavy rains expected in the Japanese capital today and Monday, the agency said. - AFP |
| N Korea says South provoking clashes for vote gain Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:30 AM PDT
A spokesman for the North’s powerful National Defence Commission claimed the South’s “warmongers” were “infiltrating warships deep into the territorial waters… almost every day”. He said the South’s warships had recently opened fire without prior warnings at fishing boats operating near the disputed maritime border. The North has claimed the fishing boats were from China. The South is now seeking to justify the infiltrations and shooting incident as measures for defending the “northern limit line”, he said in a statement. “And Park Geun-Hye and other ambitious politicians are using them for stepping up the presidential campaign,” the spokesman said. The North never recognized the border line, unilaterally drawn by the US-led United Nations forces at the end of the Korean War to prevent naval clashes between the two Koreas. Weeks of repeated incursions by North Korean fishing vessels over the disputed Yellow Sea border culminated in the South Korean navy firing warning shots last week to push the boats back. Pyongyang earlier denounced the “shooting rampage” and threatened to respond with a “powerful strike of the (North’s) front units which know of no limit”. The statement Saturday came after Seoul this week threatened a strong military response to any provocative act by the communist state aimed at influencing the December 19 vote, in which Park, the ruling conservative party candidate, hopes to become South Korea’s first woman president. - AFP |
| Iran: Israel already passed own nuclear red line Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:21 AM PDT  TEHRAN: Israel has already breached its own red line set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by acquiring “dozens of nuclear warheads,” Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said yesterday.“If having the atomic bomb is passing the red line, the Zionist regime, that possesses dozens of nuclear warheads and weapons of mass destruction, has passed the red line years ago, and it has to be stopped,” he said, according to the ISNA news agency. Vahidi was responding to a speech by Netanyahu to the UN General Assembly this week in which — using a cartoon bomb diagramme — the Israeli leader called for a “clear red line” to be applied to Iran’s nuclear activities, which he charged are aimed at developing atomic weapons. “Is the occupying and aggressor Zionist regime that possesses nuclear weapons more dangerous? Or an Iran that doesn’t have nuclear weapons and which insists more than anybody on nuclear disarmament, and seeks only to have peaceful nuclear energy abiding by international rules,” Vahidi asked. Israel is the Middle East’s sole, though undeclared, nuclear weapons state. Analysts estimate it has more than 200 nuclear warheads. It is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency but has never signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and rejects Israel’s accusations of military intent. Israel has had serious differences with Washington over how to respond to what it regards an “existential” threat from Tehran. US intelligence agencies estimate that Iran has taken no decision to acquire a nuclear weapon but is merely seeking a so-called breakout capability to develop one in the future if it so decides. - AFP It says there is more time for diplomacy and sanctions to work out. |
| Posted: 29 Sep 2012 02:48 AM PDT
You have an unrealistic checklist You reveal too much, too soon You're too clingy You fall for the wrong type Your negativity reflects on the outside LINKS |
| Restoran dipantau berikutan pengurangan subsidi gula Posted: 29 Sep 2012 01:44 AM PDT
Timbalan Menteri Perdagangan Dalam Negeri, Koperasi dan Kepenggunaan Datuk Tan Lian Hoe berkata berikutan pengurangan subsidi itu, pihak pembekal makanan dan restoran sepatutnya mengurangkan kandungan gula di dalam proses penyediaan sajian mereka dan bukannya mengambil kesempatan menaikkan harga makanan. “Langkah kerajaan mengurangkan subsidi gula sepatutnya dilihat dari segi kesihatan yang mana kerajaan ingin mengubah pengambilan gula berlebihan oleh rakyat di negara ini. "Kerajaan bukan sengaja kurangkan subsidi, sebaliknya ia dilakukan ekoran statistik rakyat di negara ini yang kerap mempunyai penyakit disebabkan pengambilan gula berlebihan," katanya kepada Bernama di sini hari ini. Semalam, Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak ketika membentangkan Belanjawan 2013 mengumumkan pengurangan subsidi gula sebanyak RM0.20 sen sekilogram berkuat kuasa hari ini. Berdasarkan rekod, gula sebagai barangan kawalan telah mengalami kenaikan harga sebanyak empat kali sejak 1 Jan 2010 iaitu sebanyak RM0.20 sekilogram, RM0.25 sekilogram (18 Julai 2010), RM0.20 sekilogram (4 Dis 2010) dan kali terakhir pada 10 Mei 2011 (RM0.20 sekilogram) menjadikan harga runcit gula RM2.30 sekilogram sehingga kini. Tan berkata rakyat sebagai pengguna perlu membantu kerajaan dalam memantau harga makanan ekoran pengurangan subsidi tersebut dengan melaporkannya kepada pejabat kementerian. "Rakyat adalah mata dan telinga kerajaan dan laporkanlah sekiranya berlaku kenaikan harga makanan yang tidak relevan kepada pihak kementerian,” katanya. Beliau berkata rakyat perlu tahu dan sedar bahawa pengurangan subsidi bukan bertujuan menambah beban mereka sebaliknya untuk kebaikan mereka sendiri. "Rakyat perlu belajar dan mula mengurangkan pengambilan gula kerana terdapat keluarga yang mampu bertahan menggunakan dua kilogram gula untuk tempoh sebulan dua. "Kurangkan sukatan dan pengambilan air bergas (minuman berkarbonat) dan mulakan cara hidup yang sihat dengan mengambil gula dalam kuantiti yang sedikit," katanya. - Bernama |
| Turn it into a heritage site, settlers tell PM Posted: 29 Sep 2012 01:41 AM PDT
On Sept 25, the settlers sent a memorandum to the prime minister requesting that their settlement be gazetted as an Indian heritage site. The Kg Railway settlers are the fourth generation of Malayan Railway workers who had been residing in Jalan 12, Sentul Pasar, since 1886. “Kg Railway settlement is the last remaining Indian settlement in Kuala Lumpur and we want the government to recognise the housing area as an Indian heritage site,” said action committee leader Jaison Alex. He added that the settlers highlighted several issues in their six-page memorandum to Najib. Among the demands was to gazette the land into individual names, declare the settlement as an Indian heritage settlement, stop all development projects within one kilometre from the settlement. If the government did not gazette the area, Alex said the alternative would be to build three-room and two-bathroom terrace houses costing about RM200,000 each for the settlers in the area. “We hope the prime minister will heed our requests,” he added. It was reported that YTL Corporation Bhd bought the land in 2002 from Malayan Railways Bhd and served an eviction notice on the settlers. When the settlers refused to vacate their homes, YTL Corporation filed a case in court and the verdict was due on Oct 4. “We are no squatters or trespassers. Our ancestors cultivated the land into a housing area,” said Alex. He added that according to the Land Act, the settlers had the right to hold the land title if they had been residing in the area for more than 60 years. “In our case, we have been here for more than 120 years, and so the government must declare it as an Indian heritage settlement,” he added. He called on the government to extend the same concern it showed for Malay heritage areas, Chinese new villages and Orang Asli settlements for Indian settlers as well. “Are Indians third class people in Malaysia?” he asked. Alex also said that the action committee would come out with a blueprint on how to convert the land into a heritage site. “By turning the settlement into an Indian heritage site, the government can generate more income from tourism since Indians have a 2,000 year old history in Malaysia,” he added. |
| Vexed parents warn of hunger strike Posted: 29 Sep 2012 01:27 AM PDT
T Paramanathan, a disgruntled parent, said: "We have been asking for a new school building for the past 10 years but the government appears not serious about the matter." "Genting Berhad already allocated RM1.5 million for the new building’s construction but how to proceed with the construction when the government does not provide the land. "The classrooms and toilets [in the existing building] are not well lit. I don't understand why the Education Department doesn’t take any proactive action," he added. Paramanathan also accused MIC of not doing anything to safeguard the education of Indian children. "There are 27 MIC branches all over Kuala Pilah. If these branch, division and state leaders are concerned about the plight of the school and the children, I'm sure they can help to solve the issue because they are part of the ruling government," he said. He added that the issue had been brought to the attention of Negeri Sembilan MIC chief T Rajagopalu and state exco member VS Mogan. "If nothing positive comes forward in two weeks, we will go for a hunger strike and send a memorandum to the Yang Di Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Tunku Mukhriz Tuanku Munawir requesting for for his intervention," he added. Another vexed parent G Naina also criticised Barisan Nasional and MIC leaders. "BN and MIC leaders told us that they can only solve this problem during election season. So we supported them, we voted for them [in the last "What happened to their promises? How long must the children suffer? Do they think our children are cows and buffaloes? Do they think this is a cowshed?" he thundered. "Look at the condition of the school! This school has been here since even before independence. They (BN and MIC) have cheated the people of Kuala Pilah," he added. Meanwhile, DAP’s Senawang state assemblyman P Gunasekaran gave a one-week ultimatum to the authorities to come up with a proposal. "I will wait for another week and if the government keeps ignoring the matter, I will organise a trip of five bus loads of parents to stage a protest at the Parliament building," he warned. Gunasekaran said he sent letters to important officials in the Education Ministry, including its minister Muhyiddin Yassin, describing the condition of the school. "Until now, I haven’t recieved a reply," he added. The school’s Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) president P Ganes told FMT that the presence of the toilets next to the classrooms was unhygenic. "These students are also forced to deal with the foul smell. The Health Department also confirmed that all the classes do not meet the level of lighting specification. "As you can see here there is only one door for the classrooms. If there is fire, there is no alternative door for the students to escape," he added. |
| Diskaun PTPTN: Manfaat untuk segelintir peminjam Posted: 29 Sep 2012 01:15 AM PDT
Beliau juga menyifatkan Bajet 2013 yang dibentangkan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak di Dewan Rakyat semalam seolah terbawa-bawa ke arah persiapan untuk menghadapi pilihan raya umum akan datang. Ketika membentangkan Bajet 2013, Najib mengumumkan pemberian diskaun 20 peratus kepada peminjam PTPTN yang melangsaikan pinjaman sekali gus serta diskaun 10 peratus bagi mereka yang membuat bayaran balik pinjaman secara konsisten. Dalam ucapannya Najib berkata diskaun berkenaan sah untuk tempoh bermula 1 Oktober 2012 sehingga 30 September 2013. Menurut Rafizi, pemberian diskaun itu hanya memberi manfaat kepada segelintir individu sahaja dan bukannya kepada keseluruhan para peminjam. Gaji siswazah rendah “Pengumuman Bajet 2013 tentang PTPTN ini tidak beri kelebihan kerana hanya sebilangan kecil peminjam yang dapat manfaat sedangkan masalah utama ialah gaji siswazah yang rendah dan jika ditolak pelbagai tanggungan lain maka mereka masih tidak mampu membayarnya. Ujar Rafizi, “diskaun 20 peratus diberi kepada mereka yang membayar pinjaman sekali gus. Ini bermakna hanya mereka yang ada duit sahaja yang mampu bayar. “Untuk mendapatkan diskaun 20 peratus itu, mereka yang tidak mampu membayar sekaligus terpaksa membuat pinjaman di tempat lain. “Manakala peminjam yang berpendapatan rendah dan menghadapi masalah kewangan serta gagal membuat bayaran secara konsisten tidak layak mendapat diskaun 10 peratus pula,” jelas beliau. “Akhirnya pengumuman ini seperti skim rumah 1Malaysia. Adakan skim sedangkan tidak sampai 100 anak muda yang mampu untuk membeli rumah walaupun mereka ada wang pendahuluan. “Gaji mereka masih terlalu rendah untuk bayar ansuran bulanan rumah. Skim tak berkesan dan hanya beri manfaat pada sebilangan kecil sahaja,” katanya ketika dihubungi FMT. Katanya, diskaun ini hanya sekadar pengumuman berbentuk gimik pilihan raya dan memberi isyarat seolah-olah kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) mendengar keluhan rakyat dan berbuat sesuatu mengenainya. Sebaliknya menurut beliau, pengumuman sedemikian tidak memberi kesan kepada peminjam tetapi sebaliknya mengecewakan mereka. Rafizi sebelum ini berkata bahawa hutang PTPTN boleh dihapuskan malah Pakatan Rakyat dapat menyediakan pendidikan percuma jika menguasai kerajaan persekutuan kelak. Rebat telefon pintar tiada asas ekonomi Sementara itu, mengulas mengenai rebat RM200 bagi belia yang membeli telefon pintar, Rafizi berkata pengumuman tersebut yang paling bodoh dan tiada asas ekonomi. “Kerajaan nak beri RM200 rebat sedangkan kita tahu harga telefon pintar RM1,000 dan ke atas. “Ini bermakna mereka terpaksa menambah wang atau berbelanja lebih untuk membeli telefon berkenaan sedangkan lebih baik peruntukan sebegitu diberi untuk bantuan kepada siswazah dalam hal PTPTN ini. “Sejak dari 2004, bajet ini paling bodoh dan tidak berkualiti untuk rakyat. Bajet ini nampak terdesak sehingga tiada asas ekonomi,” katanya. |
| Najib: Jangan tuduh k’jaan bersifat populis Posted: 29 Sep 2012 12:29 AM PDT
Justeru, Perdana Menteri berkata kerajaan tidak harus dituduh bersifat populis kerana berjaya mencipta pelbagai kejayaan dan menunaikan janji yang diberi kepada rakyat. Katanya pelbagai dasar dan perbelanjaan yang dilaksana untuk menggalakkan pertumbuhan ekonomi sehingga negara mampu mencatat perkembangan memberangsangkan ketika dunia berdepan kemelut ekonomi, merupakan antara kejayaan besar kerajaan selain penyenaraian Felda Global Ventures Holding (FGV) yang mencatat Terbitan Saham Awal (IPO) kedua tertinggi selepas Facebook. “Ini kebanggaan kita, jadi kita tak boleh dituduh sebuah kerajaan yang bersifat populis. “Kerajaan yang bersifat populis adalah kerajaan yang tidak bertanggungjawab, yang menjanjikan perkara-perkara yang tidak mungkin dapat dilaksanakan,” katanya ketika berucap pada majlis ‘Jelajah Janji Ditepati’ di Stadium Belia dan Sukan Paroi, di sini. Kira-kira 12,000 anggota masyarakat dari seluruh pelusuk negeri memeriahkan majlis itu yang turut dihadiri isteri Perdana Menteri Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. Hadir sama Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan. Najib berkata pembangkang merasa tercabar apabila kerajaan memilih slogan ‘Janji Ditepati’ kerana sedar janji-janji yang ditabur mereka tidak mungkin dapat ditunaikan. “Bila kita pilih tema Janji Ditepati, mereka melenting sebab tahu janji mereka tidak boleh ditunaikan…BN tidak janji perkara yang tidak boleh Najib berkata pemilihan nama Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) 2.0 yang diumum dalam Belanjawan 2013 semalam juga merupakan satu sindiran kepada pembangkang ekoran menganjurkan Bersih 2.0. “Kita namakan BR1M 2.0 sebenarnya satu sindiran sebab pembangkang anjur Bersih 2.0 yang langsung tidak bersih…tetapi kita bagi BR1M untuk kesejahteraan rakyat. “Kalau negara kita makmur, kerajaan akan kongsi kejayaan dengan rakyat…jadi rakyat mesti yakin bahawa kerajaan sentiasa fikir apa yang telah dan yang baru akan dilakukan (untuk rakyat),” katanya. Najib juga mengaku selepas membentangkan Belanjawan 2013 semalam, banyak perkara yang difikirkannya terutama mengenai petikan Surah Al-Baqarah yang beliau baca kerana membawa makna yang sangat mendalam. Surah yang menekankan kepada melakukan kebaikan itu katanya sangat signifikan dengan apa yang dilakukan kerajaan, iaitu berlumba-lumba untuk berbuat kebaikan dan bukannya menabur fitnah, mencerca dan jauh sekali tidak menunaikan janji. Atas dasar itu rakyat terus meletakkan keyakinan dan menyokong kerajaan pimpinan BN walaupun selepas 55 tahun merdeka dan melalui 12 kali pilihan raya umum. “Hubungan yang saya anggap sebagai wa’ad antara kerajaan dan rakyat ini tidak mudah diputuskan dengan fitnah yang dilemparkan kerana rakyat yakin hanya satu kerajaan yang boleh menepati janji iaitu kerajaan BN,” katanya disambut tepukan orang ramai. Pada majlis itu Najib turut melancarkan Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) Seremban yang bakal dibina di empat lokasi strategik membabitkan pembinaan kira-kira 5,000 unit rumah dalam tempoh dua tahun. Melemparkan sindiran kepada kerajaan Selangor yang masih gagal menyelesaikan isu air di negeri itu, Najib berkata kesediaan kerajaan negeri bekerjasama dengan kerajaan persekutuan telah memungkinkan usaha sama melaksanakan projek perumahan berdasarkan keperluan rakyat. “Bukan seperti di Selangor isu air pun tidak boleh ‘settle’, di negeri ini boleh beri kerjasama yang baik,” katanya yang menambah bahawa rumah di bawah PR1MA akan dijual kepada mereka yang layak pada harga 20 peratus lebih rendah berbanding pasaran. Selain itu Najib turut mengumumkan peruntukan RM158 juta untuk Dana Mudah Cara Pembangunan Lebuhraya Lekas-Temiang yang akan memanfaatkan kira-kira 10,000 penduduk di kawasan sekitarnya. - Bernama |
| MIC hails Indian allocation in Budget Posted: 29 Sep 2012 12:08 AM PDT
He said the allocation was an extension to the continuous measures taken by the government to help the Indian community. “In the previous budget, RM30 million was allocated for TEKUN for Indian entrepreneurs and now it has been raised to RM50 million under the 2013 Budget. “I highly encourage all aspiring Indian entrepreneurs to take this opportunity to apply and grow their businesses,” he told reporters after officiating the ‘Road To England’ football tournament which kick-started today at a Tamil school, here. Under the 2013 Budget, RM350 million was allocated for TEKUN Financing for small to medium entrepreneurs, including RM50 million for the Indian Social Entrepreneurship Scheme. Apart from that, RM50 million was allocated for 3,200 poor Indian students to train them in industrial skills and RM100 million for upgrading and development for Tamil schools nationwide. Palanivel, who is a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said more than 200 Tamil schools had already benefited from the RM100 million allocation announced for Tamil schools under the 2012 Budget. As such, he said, only the remaining Tamil schools which did not seek any allocation would benefit from the 2013 Budget allocation. There are approximately 523 Tamil schools in the country. Palanivel also expects to receive an allocation of RM1 billion for Tamil schools in 10 years’ time. - Bernama |
| Accept Anwar’s debate dare, Karpal tells Najib Posted: 29 Sep 2012 12:05 AM PDT
The party national chairman said he could not understand why Najib was reluctant to accept Anwar's challenge. PKR supremo Anwar challenged the premier for a debate pitting the federal government's Budget 2013, tabled by Najib in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, against Pakatan Rakyat’s alternative budget unveiled a day before. Karpal recalled when Anwar was the finance minister he accepted a debate challenge from then Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang. "The prime minister should debate with the opposition leader," the senior politician told reporters during a visit to his Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency today. He said that as expected, the Budget 2013 was clearly an election budget to capture votes. He predicted Najib to call for the general election after the Chinese New Year celebrations next February after handing out Budget goodies to the people. |
| Why no exam question on butt dance? Posted: 29 Sep 2012 12:02 AM PDT
He was referring to a picture which went viral on Facebook that showed a Bersih commotion photograph being featured in a SPM trial examination of SMK Aminuddin Baki, Johor Bahru, supposedly for the Moral Studies subject. Students were asked questions such as whether an individual should take part in illegal rallies, what the moral values are, and what adverse impact it will bring to the country. Calling these questions "irrelevant" and "baseless", Barathidasan asked why the authorities do not apply the same logic to other incidents.
He said it was a "dirty tactic" to pollute young's minds so that they will perceive the rally negatively. "This was despite the KL High Court ruling that Bersih is a legal entity. The school should have been informed about this and explain it correctly to the students," he added. Barathidasan urged the school to explain their move in a show-cause letter to the Johor State Education Department and called on politicians to leave schools out of politics. |
| Ibu bapa demo tuntut bangunan sekolah baru Posted: 28 Sep 2012 10:42 PM PDT
Sejurus tamat waktu persekolahan pada pukul 12.30 tengahari semalam (Jumaat) ibu bapa kepada pelajar di sekolah tersebut berhimpun di padang di hadapan sekolah tersebut. Mereka meluahkan perasaan tidak puas hati terhadap kerajaan khususnya Kementerian Pendidikan, kerajaan negeri dan MIC negeri di atas kegagalan membina bangunan sekolah yang baru walaupun sebahagian dari peruntukkan untuk membina sekolah tersebut sudah ada. Pengerusi Alumni Bekas Murid SJKT Kuala Pilah, Kevin Karu memberitahu FMT bahawa SJKT Kuala Pilah dibuka pada tahun 1954 dengan keluasan kawasan sekolah hanya suku ekar. "Masalah utama dihadapi di sekolah ini ialah kawasan sekolah ini terlalu sempit, ruang bilik darjah sangat kecil dan tidak menepati skala luas (standard) sebuah bilik darjah. "Laluan di sekitar bangunan juga sekolah sempit dan gelap. Ini menyebabkan cahaya matahari sukar masuk terutama sekali bilik darjah dan laluan ke tandas serta pejabat sekolah. "Tidak ada padang sekolah sebaliknya padang milik Majlis Daerah Kuala Pilah. Tidak ada tempat letak kereta khusus untuk guru dan kakitangan sekolah. "Justeru itu sejak 10 tahun yang lalu; kami (bekas murid) dan Persatuan Ibu Bapa dan Guru (PIBG) telah memohon kepada Pejabat Pendidikan Kuala Pilah, Jabatan Pelajaran Negeri Sembilan, Kementerian Pendidikan, Adun Kuala Pilah, Ahli Parlimen Kuala Pilah, Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan, Pengerusi MIC Negeri Sembilan dan Menteri Sumber Manusia untuk mendapatkan sebidang tanah yang baru dan seterusnya mendirikan bangunan baru sekolah. "Malangnya sehingga hari ini tidak ada apa-apa usaha yang dijalankan pihak kerajaan untuk membina sekolah yang baru," kata Karu. Syarikat swasta sumbang RM1.5 juta Pengerusi PIBG SJKT Kuala Pilah, P Ganes pula berkata sekolah tersebut menerima peruntukkan RM1.5 juta daripada sebuah syarikat swasta Genting Berhad di bawah entiti 'The Community Chest' pada September 2011 untuk mendirikan bangunan sekolah yang baru. "Tujuan penyampaian wang tersebut ialah untuk membantu mengurangkan beban kewangan pihak kerajaan dalam membina bangunan baru SJKT Kuala Pilah. Bagaimanapun 'The Community Chest' bersedia memberikan bantuan kewangan tersebut dengan syarat sekolah perlu ada keluasan tanah yang mencukupi untuk pembinaan bangunan baru. "Syarat kedua ialah Kementerian Pendidikan perlu menanggung kos pembinaan bangunan sekolah baru yang selebihnya," katanya. Ganes menambah baru-baru ini pihak Jabatan Penyelidikan dan Perancangan Pendidikan (EPRD) dari Kementerian Pendidikan datang ke SJKT Kuala Pilah dan memaklumkan beberapa perkara, di antaranya:
Beliau memohon agar kerajaan mengambil langkah sewajarnya dengan segera memandangkan ada bilik darjah yang tidak selamat apabila hanya mempunyai satu pintu keluar masuk dan persekitaran bangunan sekolah itu sendiri tidak kondusif. "Pernah sekali ular liar masuk ke kawasan bangunan sekolah ini berhampiran dengan tandas sekolah," ujar Ganes. Turut hadir ialah Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Senawang dari DAP, P Gunasekaran. |
| RPGT hike ‘acceptable’, say developers Posted: 28 Sep 2012 10:26 PM PDT
In his Budget 2013 presentation yesterday, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced that the RPGT will be increased from 10% to 15% for disposal of properties within two years, and from 5% to 10% for disposal within the third, fourth and fifth year. He also announced a RM1.9 billion allocation to build 123,000 affordable homes in major cities, an increase of income cap from RM3,000 to RM5000 for house buyers eligible for government loans and incentives for revival of abandoned housing projects. Commenting on the announcements, REDHA president Michael KC Yam said the RPGT hike will encourage people to hold their properties for long term capital appreciation of their investment. "While it may have a negative short term effect, in general this change is acceptable and a compromise in helping curb excessive speculation," he said in a statement today. He also welcomed the government's effort to build affordable housing and pledged full support to work together with the government to deliver the programme. On the increased income cap, he said it is a positive move in encouraging home ownership especially among young families for starter homes. "Also the extension for stamp duty exemption to Dec 31, 2014 with price limit on residential properties raised to RM400, 000 will further spur the growth of the housing and property sector," he added. The House Buyers Association (HBA) secretary-general Chang Kim Loong had yesterday hit out at Najib for being "ill-advised" over his announcements on the property sector. He had said the 15% RPGT tax will not help to curb property speculation as developers generally take two years to complete a construction. |
| PKR to probe ‘cocky, arrogant, tokong’ issue Posted: 28 Sep 2012 10:20 PM PDT
All seven members, who attended the exposed casual meet-up with the party’s Penang chief and Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman, are expected to be called up. Sources said the eight-man state party political bureau, currently headed by Mansor, may be tasked to carry out the fact-finding mission. But being a material witness to the case, Mansor is expected to recuse himself from the hearing to avoid a conflict of interests as he would testify before the panel. Sources said party state vice chairman and state assembly speaker Abdul Halim Hussain could head the panel that would shed some light on the controversy, which had embarrassed Mansor. The panel might constitute other bureau members including party state deputy chairman Law Choo Kiang, vice chairman Abdul Malik Kassim, secretary Mustafa Kamal, information chief Johari Kassim, Batu Uban assemblyman S Raveentharan and councillor Francis Joseph. It was not clear whether Law would sit on the panel since he also attended the leaked meeting. A top PKR official said the inquiry would compile facts and evidence from all witnesses and submit them to the party top brass for further action, probably disciplinary action. When contacted, a possible witness told FMT that "the whole picture would be clearer after the inquiry", while another confirmed he would attend and testify because he had nothing to hide. The seven who met Mansor in the closed-door discussion were state PKR deputy chief Law Choo Kiang, Bukit Bendera division deputy chief Felix Ooi Keat Hin, Bayan Baru vice chairman Tan Seng Keat, 2004 candidate for Bayan Baru federal and Batu Uban state seats – Raymond Ong Ting Cheow, Tanjung Youth chief Ng Chek Siang; Bayan Baru member Cheah Peng Guan and Mansor's special assistant John Ooh Sin Hwa. Notable absentees were assemblymen Jason Ong Khan Lee of Kebun Bunga, Tan Hock Leong of Machang Bubok, Sim Tze Tzin of Pantai Jerejak and Ong Chin Wen of Bukit Tengah. The internal meeting was apparently held to discuss seat allocations for the party’s Chinese candidates in Penang. But leaked details revealed that Mansor had allegedly referred to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng as being "cocky, arrogant and tokong (deity)". The leaked details were first published in June postings of a blog called "Gelagat Anwar". Mansor had initially denied chiding Lim as "cocky ad arrogant" but admitted to have used the word "tokong" in a positive note. This time the Penanti assemblyman did not deny its contents but rather mused on how much the TV station paid to obtain the recording. Two conspiracy theories had emerged since the issue cropped up. One theory linked two state representatives, a municipal councillor, who attended the meeting, and a personal assistant to an assemblyman This was the first conspiracy theory that surfaced instantly after the matter erupted last month. But another theory now linked two other assemblymen and another municipal councillor, who was at the meeting. Insiders said the second theory was more "acceptable and realistic." Anyway, they concurred that someone who could benefit directly from Mansor's premature exit might have masterminded the whole thing. An assemblyman, who had been linked to one of the conspiracy theories, seemed unperturbed. "Let them think or say whatever … I am not bothered. Why should I worry?" he asked. Asked whether he would meet with Mansor to clarify his position, he said the onus was on the DCM1 to call him. "I won't call or meet him. He should call me and ask me," said the PKR elected representative. |
| Pemimpin NGO didakwa pecah amanah Posted: 28 Sep 2012 10:16 PM PDT
Dakwaan itu membabitkan bayaran wang stakeholder kepada Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS) serta kegagalan beliau menyempurnakan urusan pindah milik pembeli rumah yang sepatutnya diselesaikan pada tahun 2009. Menerusi surat yang diterima FMT, menyatakan bahawa pemimpin terbabit yang merupakan rakan kongsi sebuah syarikat guaman dilantik sebagai panel peguam PKNS sebelum 2004. Namun syarikat guaman itu disenarai hitam daripada panel PKNS pada Oktober 2010 atas dakwaan pecah amanah. Tuntutan pecah amanah pertama bernilai RM152 ribu, membabitkan wang stakeholder yang dibayar pihak pembiaya kepada peguam untuk PKNS oleh pembeli rumah bagi projek rumah teres satu tingkat di Cheras. Tuntutan kedua membabitkan dakwaan wang duti setem bernilai RM46,000 yang dibayar pembeli rumah kepada peguam untuk Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri bagi tujuan pendaftaran pindah milik bagi projek Pangsapuri di Shah Alam. Ekoran kegagalan tersebut, surat tuntutan dikemukakan pada November 2010 namun tiada maklum balas sehingga PKNS terpaksa melantik firma guaman lain. Bagi kes kedua juga PKNS bertindak mengemukakan surat tunjuk sebab dan amaran kepada pemimpin tersebut berhubung aduan yang diterima. Aduan diterima PKNS oleh pembeli-pembeli rumah dan hasil siasatan mendapati syarikat guaman tersebut tidak beroperasi. Malah pemimpin tersebut didakwa telah menubuhkan syarikat guaman lain. Menerusi surat tersebut juga menyatakan bahawa pemimpin terlibat telah membuat pembayaran namun dakwaan pecah amanah berlaku ekoran kegagalan beliau menyempurnakan bayaran dan urusan pindah milik untuk tempoh yang sepatutnya. |
| Fomca: Peniaga dinasihat tidak naik harga makanan Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:44 PM PDT
Naib Presiden Fomca Siti Rahayu Zakaria berkata golongan peniaga, terutama peniaga makanan, tidak harus berbuat demikian meskipun harga gula akan meningkat selepas ini. Beliau berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas pengurangan subsidi bahan mentah itu, yang diumum Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak ketika membentangkan Belanjawan 2013 di Dewan Rakyat semalam. Bagaimanapun, Siti Rahayu menyifatkan tindakan mengurangkan subsidi gula satu langkah yang baik bagi membolehkan rakyat menilai semula gaya hidup mereka kerana penduduk Malaysia merupakan yang kedua tertinggi di Asia menghidap diabetis. Beliau berkata belanjawan kali ini turut membantu rakyat Sabah dan Sarawak membiayai kos sara hidup mereka berikutan diskaun 50 peratus bagi tambang feri Sarawak-Labuan-Sabah dan diskaun 50 peratus tambang feri bagi kenderaan komersial yang mengangkut barang di laluan Sarawak-Labuan-Sabah. Selain itu, Siti Rahayu melihat Belanjawan 2013 lebih mesra rakyat kerana membuka peluang untuk pengguna berpendapatan rendah memiliki rumah. Di KOTA BAHARU, Presiden Persatuan Pelindung Pengguna Kelantan Ahmad Othman menyambut baik pengurangan subsidi gula dan meminta pengguna memanfaatkannya demi menjaga kesihatan. Beliau berkata pengurangan subsidi gula adalah wajar jika mengambil kira jumlah rakyat Malaysia yang menghidap diabetis ketika ini, iaitu 2.6 juta orang. Sementara itu, Yang DiPertua Persatuan Keselamatan Pengguna Kuala Lumpur Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi berkata belanjawan yang dibentang Perdana Menteri umpama hadiah besar kepada pengguna. Beliau berkata rakyat negara ini perlu menghayati keistimewaan belanjawan kali ini dan bersyukur dengan insentif yang kerajaan berikan. - Bernama |
| Battle for Tambunan: Pairin unshakable? Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:40 PM PDT
Others have tried and failed but the times are changing and the opposition is gaining momentum mostly because of the growing perceptions of corruption in high places and the slow pace of development in the resource-rich state. Now a veteran of Sabah’s murky politics, Pairin, can expect to be challenged by candidates from State Reform Party (STAR) and PKR, to name two, in the Tambunan state constituency in the coming 13th general election. The Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president can also expect challenges from several independents for the state seat which he has held for well over three decades since 1976 when he won the seat for Berjaya. The septuagenarian politician who many say has become irrelevant in the Umno-led Barisan Nasional state government recently announced that he intended to defend his state and (Keningau) parliamentary seats, one more time. The talk in the constituency of mostly Kadazandusun farmers is that the community’s Huguan Siou or paramount chief will easily get what he wants despite having accomplished little during his tenure both as chief minister during PBS reign from 1985 to 1994 and then as current deputy chief minister in the ruling coalition government. The sleepy town of Tambunan nestled in the valley of the Crocker Range is located 80 kilometers east of Kota Kinabalu and is bordered by Ranau in the north and Keningau to the south. Lawyer Mozes Iking who contested against Pairin, now 72, in the 2008 general election contrary to the belief of many garnered 2,820 votes to the surprise of many against Pairin’s 5,601 votes. Another contender Francis Koh managed 157 votes. Iking has told FMT that he will not be contesting under any of the political party banner in the coming election. A former police officer, he is now a close aide to the Sabah STAR chairman Jeffrey Kitingan who is the younger brother of Pairin. According to a Tambunan PKR member, Pakatan “will definetly be fielding a candidate”. John Jinus Sibin – Pairin’s right-hand man since his time in Parti Berjaya 1976-1985 and PBS Chief Minister 1985-1994 who like Pairin is from Tambunan – is likely to be that man. Pairin will win again The PBS president has faced numerous challenges for the seat which has become shaky for the BN due to perceptions that the community has been sidelined despite having a deputy chief minister as their representative. In the 1999 election, Pairin led PBS as an opposition party to a convincing win polling 6,791 votes against BN’s Petrus Francis Guriting’s 2,116 votes. Independent Joseph Jouti Ajun’s 169 votes. The likely contender from STAR is Nestor Joannes whom the Huguan Siou defeated in the 2004 general election. Joannes had then contested as an independent and polled 2,017 votes against BN’s Pairin’s 5, 297 votes. It was in the same year that Pairin won the Keningau MP seat uncontested. He won the MP seat in 1999 with 12,783 votes just 250 votes more than the BN candidate, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah’s president Joseph Kurup, who polled 12,533 votes. The 2008 election saw the Kitingan’s brothers facing each other for the Keningau MP seat with the elder managing to retain the seat for the BN polling 14,508 to Jeffrey’s 10, 334 votes. Jeffrey was at the time with PKR. Independent Peter Anthony Kodou managed 560 votes. Observers note that Pairin as the Huguan Siou has an advantage in any elections as the community is unlikely to snub its own paramount chief irrespective of his political stance. A look at previous election results show that Pairin had contested both as an opposition or ruling coalition party candidate and won comfortably. However the bigger question being posed is whether he will be able to breath new life into his failing party and its secondary position in the BN. |
| Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:36 PM PDT
There is still no news in regards to the cleaning of the electoral roll. This is very irresponsible and unbecoming of a federal government who is always harping on ‘transformation’, whatever that means. BN leaders have mocked Pakatan Rakyat’s tagline of ‘Change’ by saying that by choosing Pakatan, the rakyat would have chosen change for the worse. Certainly transparency, accountability and responsibility do not rank highly in the current government’s code of governance. Otherwise, how else can you explain the EC’s reluctance to clean up the electoral roll? They should remember the Spiderman movie tagline ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. There are too many discrepancies in the electoral roll. PAS Pokok Sena MP, Mahfuz Omar has compiled a few thick files on irregularities in the electoral roll but the relevant authorities have not shown any interest at all in the matter despite his efforts in highlighting the same. Instead the BN leaders are more interested in showing numerical superiority. Two examples highlighted involve a Hari Raya Aidil Fitri Open House function in Putrajaya and an event in Pekan, Pahang. There are allegations that the crowd pictures have been manipulated to make the crowds seem larger. Does this reveal a very desperate move to project a false image of popularity? Hopefully, someone can come forward with solid evidence to prove that the allegations are false. Simple mere denials do not count. This is very important as our image in the world arena is at stake! However, it must be noted that ever since Bersih 3.0, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has constantly sought to portray that BN’s events are more popular than ‘Duduk Bantah’ on April 28. One thing for sure, BN can never beat Bersih 3.0! The ‘Himpunan Jutaan Belia’ gathering in Putrajaya organised by BN in May this year seems to have drawn in millions in numbers. But it was an event spread over a few days unlike ‘Duduk Bantah’ wherein a concentration and mass convergence of people was required in just two hours from 2 pm to 4 pm. “The constant obsession to display numerical superiority shows that BN leaders are envious of a people’s movement. They are incensed that a people’s movement can prove to be so very popular. This shows that these leaders are insecure, immatured and petty-minded,” commented PAS Kuala Selangor MP, Dzulkefly Ahmad. This brings to mind the prime minister’s statement that he intends to defend Putrajaya at all cost and his reluctance to answer the question of whether there will be a smooth transition of power in the event Pakatan wins the 13th general election. Instead the BN leaders have accused Pakatan of wanting to create chaos if Pakatan loses. “Well, the opposition has always been losing but do you see any chaos?” asked Mahfuz dryly. Anyway if Pakatan wins, the BN leaders have to pack up and leave Putrajaya. There is certainly no question of them barricading themselves in and staying put. This is not the Middle Ages and Putrajaya is not a castle. “Are they the resident evil that they want to stay on in Putrajaya till the end of time?” questioned Dzulkefly. At the end of the day, although there are many who support Pakatan, this columnist thinks that BN can still win at the polls, albeit by a simple majority and by a smaller margin compared to the previous polls. One has to consider these facts: many Malaysian voters are still gullible and can be easily swayed, many Malaysian voters are lazy to get oneself informed in regards to the current issues and of course the biggest factor of all: the dubious electoral roll. All these factors will enable BN to win. A metaphysics practitioner who is a relative of this columnist is of the view that the Water Dragon has gone back to the depths after rising temporarily on April 28. Will it rise again before the year ends? One thing for sure is that the Water Snake of 2013 will slowly start to slither in at the end of December. Selena Tay is a FMT columnist. TAGS: |
| Budget 2013: Don’t be taken for a ride Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:15 PM PDT
Congratulations Malaysians! You fully deserve the cash handouts from the corrupt Barisan Nasional government after 55 years of Independence. It is because of you, the people's power in the March 2008 political tsunami, that you have forced BN and Najib Tun Razak to give you the cash handouts – twice within a year. It is the first time since Independence in 1957 that the BN government is giving out one-time and various forms of cash handouts in its budget. This is clearly an election budget to buy your votes in the next general election so that they remain in power for another five years to plunder and enrich their cronies. The cash handouts that are being dished out by the government of the day are not from the pockets of BN politicians. They are taxpayers' money. So, give yourselves a round of applause for successfully retrieving some back from an unjust and cunning BN government. Please don't be fooled by the budget sweeteners. Take it and say goodbye to BN. They give you a few hundred ringgit to RM1,000 or slightly more, and in the next five years, they will plunder the national coffer through mega projects and their cronies take back billions and billions of ringgit in sinful profits. Malaysians, please think of your future and generations. We don't have another five years to gamble with BN. The national debt and gross domestic product (GDP) figures are really, really scary. The federal debt rose 10.1% to a new high of RM502.4 billion or 53.7% of the GDP this year. That is only 1.3% short of the 55% legislated debt ceiling. This is the first time in Malaysia's budget history the debt has surpassed RM500 billion which also means every Malaysian is in debt of RM17,000. According to the Economic Report 2011/2012, Malaysia has accumulated RM456.1 billion of debt in 2011. Also, there are RM118 billion in off-budget liabilities or sovereign guarantees for private corporations like the Port Klang Free Zone and government-linked company loans ending 2011. At least two international rating agencies have warned that Malaysia's sovereign credit rating may be cut if the government does not deliver promised reforms to cut spending to reduce its fiscal deficits. There you have it – we are heading towards a bankrupt nation – like Greece and witnessing the devastating effects on the European economy and its people. So, don't be fooled by prime minister Najib’s and BN's budget sweeteners of one-time cash handouts. When we are "Greece", no one will feed us and we will be left to suffer. The rich BN cronies can just go elsewhere, continue to slave us or retire elsewhere where the sun shines and the beaches are cool. Chua Jui Meng is PKR vice-president and Johor PKR chairman. He is a former MCA vice president and ex-health minister. |
| Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:12 PM PDT
State vice chairman Abdul Malik Abul Kassim blamed Barisan Nasional for spreading rumours that PKR and DAP were at loggerheads over the seat arrangement. He insisted that the issue had been resolved amicably at the state level, indicating that the seat allocation for Penang was still being finalised at the national level. "Rumours of us quarreling over seats are untrue. We are all one family and work like a family. We have reached consensus at the state level on seat allocations. "There are no problems over seats among PKR, DAP and PAS in Penang. We have resolved the issue like a family," he said. Abdul Malik alleged that BN component parties – Umno, MCA, MIC and Gerakan – would always try to depict Pakatan as a loose and split political bloc. In the 2008 general election, PKR contested four federal and 16 state seats, DAP contested seven and 19 while PAS’ share was two and five in Penang. Asked if the status quo would remain in the coming election, Abdul Malik said it would only be known on nomination day. "No one will know until then," he said. It was an open secret that DAP had been demanding for a larger share of seats, especially PKR constituencies, for the next polls. It was rumoured that two top DAP leaders had a massive argument over seats arrangements. One leader purportedly wanted the state party leadership to demand some of PKR’s 16 state seats, especially in Malay dominant areas, to enable DAP to field Malay candidates. However, the other DAP leader had disagreed to the proposal, probably because it could compromise Pakatan’s solidarity and cooperation, and cost votes. Penang DAP Malay members, who were left out in the 2008 candidature, were seeking to contest in one parliament and five state seats this time around. It was speculated that they might contest as independent candidates if not fielded by the party. When asked on the rumoured fiery exchange between the DAP leaders, Abdul Malik denied having any knowledge of it. "You have to ask them," he told FMT. |
| GE only after February, say analysts Posted: 28 Sep 2012 08:53 PM PDT
Independent pollster Ibrahim Suffian said the polls would likely take place after the Chinese New Year in February as the government would only start disbursing the goodies in January. Referring to the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) 2.0 scheme, he said it would take time for the government to disburse the cash to some 4.7 million eligible households and to some three million eligible singles. He described the handouts as "very comprehensive" since the lower-income households with two children in school would be entitled to at least RM700 under BR1M and student voucher programmes. However, Ibrahim doubted if the handouts could translate into ballots for the ruling party as many benefitting from the handouts might not be registered voters. "There are those who are registered and those who are not registered. At the end of the day, it is not sure whether the RM250 recipients will go out to vote," he said. Ibrahim also said that the goodies would have minimal effect on urban voters. ‘Handouts may backfire’ Independent political analyst Wong Chin Huat also agreed with Ibrahim that the polls would be called after February. He however warned that the handouts might backfire on BN, especially with voters who understand the current state of Malaysia's economy. "The government is trying to emulate Singapore in giving out money to the people. "But the difference is, they are giving out money not because they have managed the country well and made extra revenue, but because they want to give. "It’s very likely to get people, especially the more sophisticated voters, to take the money and think whether they want to vote for this government or not," he said. Wong said the handouts would possibly create a short-term positive impact on the government but the period would not last long. "They need to capture the good feeling very fast," he added. Meanwhile, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan pointed out that there were two ways to decide the election date in relation to the handouts. "The government may say, if you want to get the handouts, vote for us. So election can be in November. If not, they will disburse the cash first and call it next year," he said. |
| Chinese chambers disappointed with Budget Posted: 28 Sep 2012 08:36 PM PDT
“Yes. We are a bit disappointed that there was nothing on this in the Budget,” CK Teo, vice president of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM), told reporters at its office after watching the prime minister unveil the Budget. A similar sentiment was echoed by its deputy president Ter Leong Yap, who said they were expecting for some leeway in terms of more time to adjust to the new policy after conveying their concerns in a meeting with top government officials earlier this year. “I was hoping the Budget would have taken into consideration our concerns (on the issue),” said Ter, who is also the president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor (KLSCCCI). The group had recently released its survey on Chinese perception towards the economic policies of the Najib administration, with the majority receiving the prime minister’s reforms with scepticism. Among the report’s chief concerns was on the minimum wage and expectations that Putrajaya heed calls to delay putting in place the popular floor wage plan until all related concerns, including gradual implementation of the idea, are addressed. The report also showed that majority of the Chinese small and medium enterprises is not confident that the Najib administration can lead Malaysia out of its middle-income trap despite making it a key goal under its grand Economic Transformation Programme. The ACCIM had described the decision to execute the floor wage plan, a key election push for the Barisan Nasional chairman, as hasty and claimed that most businesses could fold if the government went on with the idea. However, the group said apart from that issue, it welcomed the 2013 Budget as “responsible” and people-friendly. “The government recognises the need to tackle the rising cost of living as well as other important issues like housing and security,” he said. As expected Najib unveiled what analysts called an election Budget, courting voters with another round of cash hand-outs and several other money-support programmes just ahead of key polls that must be held by April next year. This included the absence of any announcement for major fiscal reforms and new taxes, which analysts said are needed to improve Malaysia’s finances but could hurt the prime minister’s elections chances. But Najib gave the market his reassurance that his government would rein in the staggering deficit to 4.0% of GDP in 2013. Putrajaya has run on a budget deficit annually since the 1997 Asian financial crisis but sees the deficit shrinking on better tax collection and slightly higher economic growth of 4.5-5.5% in 2013 from 4.5-5% this year. |
| Crime index: Perception is everything Posted: 28 Sep 2012 08:29 PM PDT
Among the factors that brought our score down are two items related to perception on crime: 1. Perception on business costs for crime and violence, and, 2. Perception on organised crime It's true that public perception of the crime rates in Malaysia aren't as good as they could be, as most perceive that the crime rate exceeds the figure reported by Pemandu. Pemandu had recently announced that the crime index in Malaysia had dropped 10.1 percent between January and May this year compared to the corresponding period last year. Based on the figures released by Reducing Crime NKRA director Eugene Teh of Pemandu, there were 63,221 cases between January and May 2012 compared to 70,343 cases recorded in the corresponding period last year. When MARAH (Malaysians Against Rape, Assault & snatcH) asked how Pemandu came up with the statistics, Eugene said that the number comes from the reports keyed in at the various police departments. "There is a flow beginning from when a complainant makes a report until it is inserted into the system. Called the Police Reporting System or PRS, the cases keyed into it will provide us with the crime index statistics. It is entirely possible that there are cases which go unreported thus making it tougher for us to compile the exact number," said Eugene. When asked if it was possible for Pemandu to detect unreported cases, he said, "The media can play a big role in spreading the message in informing the public to report crimes which have occurred. Should the police refuse to take your report, then the complainant has the right to lodge a complaint at the Police Bureau." Perception is everything The last thing our police force would want is to have headlines of high-profile crime cases splashed across the newspapers. However, perception is everything and Malaysians, especially urbanites, do feel insecure with women and the elderly seeming to be the preferred targets. As a journalist I can vouch that the police often update the media on a daily basis with the more serious crime cases – murder, abduction, drug seizures and armed robberies. However, incidences of so called "lesser" crime also take place daily and rightly or wrongly, the police have often regarded such cases as "petty" crime given that they deal with thousands of cases. As such "petty" crimes such as break-ins and snatch thefts are often relegated to the bottom but now with the proliferation of social media the public are better connected to reaching out to each other, and younger Malaysians are apt to share their experiences with the world. Such incidents are now prominently posted on all the various social media platforms by the victims, complete with gory photographs which go viral in an instant. These incidents are then picked up by online news portals and lastly by the mainstream newspapers. Our government officials and senior police officers have been quite vocal in not wanting to see such cases sensationalized in social media but subscribing to the ostrich mentality is not the answer as we definitely should not be in denial mode and these cases must be published factually and accurately and discussed in order to facilitate a quick and proper solution. Politicians on both sides of the divide are of no help as many only want to pursue their own agendas by hijacking the current red hot issue of crime as a free ride to popularity, given the looming general elections. Bashing the government and the cops is easy peasy but public apathy has also been identified as one of the reasons why criminals have become more brazen in committing crimes. Fighting crime isn't the prerogative of the police alone. The freed EO detainees There is a deep set reluctance among the public to step forward and give evidence. Many fear testifying in the courts as the lengthy court process is actually a hindrance to the police and prosecution to dispatch these thugs to jail. Furthermore there are also those who fear repercussion to their personal safety and those of their loved ones as the perpetrators make bail before you can say "Jackrabbit". The government has indeed spent a large amount of money aimed at reducing the number of crimes in Malaysia, including 71% of the budget in the NKRA to reduce street crimes, increase prosecution of violent offenders and increasing public satisfaction of the police services. Another hotly discussed topic is the abolishment of the Emergency Ordinance and the repeal of the ISA and the Sedition Act. There is fear that former detainees are now freely rampaging back to their bad boy ways. These ex-EO detainees are being blamed for the recent spike in crime although there is no real data to back this claim. Last year, more than 700 people were detained under the EO and although the police have justified the use of the EO to bring in criminals that they cannot charge in court due to insufficient evidence, they themselves have also been accused of abusing the EO. What we need is solid preventive act to deter these thugs and restore public confidence. At the same time the public also need to play their role as responsible citizens in ensuring that crime is prevented. The prevention of crime is vital towards the building of a peaceful and safe Malaysia. While crime fighting is undoubtedly the responsibility of the authorities, the public can also play an important role by looking out for themselves and their local community. It is every individual's duty to report a crime to the police. The information provided could be used to prevent other crimes and help keep other people safe. The police simply cannot be omnipresent everywhere all the time. Dave Avran is the founder of MARAH (Malaysians Against Rape, Assault & snatcH). |
| ‘No tax on smokes will cost Najib votes’ Posted: 28 Sep 2012 08:25 PM PDT
“He is not getting my vote. Rest assured, I will get as many of my friends to not vote for him as well,” Shaari told FMT. For the second time since last year’s budget, Najib has chosen not to touch the so-called sin taxes of tobacco and alcohol, despite the two being traditionally an item in past budgets. And Najib’s decision has riled up Shaari, whose organisation has been lobbying for an increase in taxes on tobacco by at least 100%, and had recently sent the government a petition on the matter. “I’m very disappointed. He didn’t even mention it. He had a chance to do it, but he didn’t. What is Janji Ditepati (Promise fulfilled) if you sign the the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and don’t follow it up? “Najib talked about ‘enhancing the well being of the rakyat’, but how can you call it a budget about sejahtera (well being)?” “He also mentioned about building more 1Malaysia clinics, but he must know the saying ‘prevention is better than cure’. “Rather than having more clinics, I’m not saying don’t build them, he must also think about stopping people from getting sick,” he said. He added that a recent published study also indicated how tobacco can drain a lot in the health budget. He also argued that increasing taxes would not cost the tobacco industry huge losses as their profit margin was high. |
| Mancini says wobbly City can retain title Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:21 PM PDT  MANCHESTER: Roberto Mancini insists Manchester City can put their indifferent start behind them and win the Premier League title for a second successive season.City, while unbeaten have begun their title defence in stuttering fashion with two wins and three draws from their opening five matches leaving then four points behind leaders Chelsea ahead of Saturday’s potentially awkward match away to seventh-placed Fulham. But City manager Mancini was in buoyant mood when he faced the media in Manchester yesterday. “You need only to stay calm and work hard,” said the Italian, when asked about his expensively-assembled team’s slow start. “We will win the title even though it is more difficult (in the) second year,” he added. There has been little evidence so far from City’s players to back up Mancini’s bold prediction. Whereas last season they pipped neighbours Manchester United to the tile on the back of 17 clean sheets, City’s defence has leaked seven goals in the first five games, and have yet to record a shut-out. The 4-2 defeat by top-flight rivals Aston Villa in the English League Cup on Tuesday was the first time City had conceded more than three goals in a game for three years. This time last season they had found the net 17 times, whereas this term they have managed 10 in five games. “There are some moments where maybe you don’t play well, the other team play better than you, you are unlucky. This is one of those moments,” added Mancini, who defended his team’s defensive record. “It is difficult because we didn’t have 14 players in pre-season, we had new players in the last day of the (transfer) market and it is clear we need the time for these new players. “These are the reasons because we didn’t work well in pre season, we didn’t have all the defenders, this is normal. “We concede only two goals more than last year, maybe we score less. “Sometimes you don’t concede a goal for 10 games and after you concede two goals for three or four games. That is football. “This year we played away against Stoke, against Liverpool and we got the same results we got last year, two draws. “We tried, against Stoke we had three or four chances, they scored one goal. “This year, all these teams, Fulham, Sunderland, Stoke are better and every game will be more difficult than last year and tomorrow will be a really tough game. They (Fulham) play really well.” Samir Nasri is available after a hamstring problem but midfielder Jack Rodwell and defender Micah Richards are sidelined with hamstring and foot injuries respectively. Mancini will be hoping his players emerge injury free against Fulham ahead of their clash with German champions Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League at Eastlands on Wednesday. - AFP |
| Ferguson rules out England return for Rio Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:19 PM PDT  MANCHESTER: Sir Alex Ferguson does not expect Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand to be chosen for England’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers despite John Terry’s international retirement.Chelsea centre-half Terry was given a four-game ban, suspended pending the outcome of any appeal hearing, for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, Rio’s younger brother, by the Football Association on Thursday during an incident that took place during a match against QPR in October last year. Former England captain Terry quit England duty on Sunday, saying the FA had made his position with the national side “untenable” after continuing to take action against him after he was found not guilty in July of criminal charges relating to the incident. Rio Ferdinand has not represented England since June 4 and was upset after being left out of Roy Hodgson’s squad for Euro 2012 — a decision the manager insisted was taken for “footballing reasons” amidst speculation the United could no longer play alongside Terry because of the incident involving his brother. However, there is speculation England manager Hodgson could turn to the 81-cap Ferdinand after Terry terminated his international career. United are currently battling a central defensive crisis with Nemanja Vidic, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling all nursing long-term injuries. Rio Ferdinand is one of the few fit defenders at Old Trafford and his return to the international scene for World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland next month is unlikely to be celebrated by Ferguson. “If it happens then it is entirely up to Rio,” the United manager told a press conference in Manchester on Friday. “I would not think he would get called up. I think Roy made his decision in the European Championships and I can’t see him changing that. “It will be a difficult one for him to go to Rio now and welcome him back. But you never know.” Ferguson said he had not spoken to Rio Ferdinand, who has captained his country seven times, about whether the player would welcome an England call. “I’ve not asked him, I don’t need to ask him because it’s only speculation,” he added. “It is only speculation because of Terry’s decision to retire from international football.” Rio Ferdinand is set to start when United face Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday. Vidic has undergone surgery after suffering a knee injury which is expected to rule him out for eight weeks. “We got the bad news earlier in the week (about Vidic) which is a blow,” added Ferguson. “We’re having a terrible time with defenders at the moment but hopefully we will get through the next three games and then the international break comes along, by which time we could have Chris Smalling back.” Antonio Valencia will also miss the Tottenham match with a foot injury. But Ferguson hinted the Ecuador winger could feature in Tuesday’s Champions League game away to Romanian champions Cluj. United will return to the top of the Premier League table for the first time since April if they overcome Spurs and Chelsea, who start the weekend at the summit, fail to defeat Arsenal. But Ferguson is expecting a tough game against a Tottenham side who, under manager Andre Villas-Boas — sacked by Chelsea before they won the Champions League last season — are currently eighth in the table. “Our record against them is very good, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But Tottenham like to play good football and I think it will be a good game. “He (Villas-Boas) wasn’t very long at Chelsea. “But in the time he was there, when he came to our ground, his team tried to play football. He suits Tottenham because they have always had a tradition of playing good football.” - AFP |
| Woods takes rare rest at Ryder Cup Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:18 PM PDT  CHICAGO, (Illinois): he United States head into Saturday’s foursomes without Tiger Woods, marking just the second time in seven Ryder Cups the 14-time major winner has had to sit down.Woods, who locked up the No. 1 spot in US team qualifying, will sit with partner Steve Stricker as his struggles in Ryder Cup continued Friday at the Medinah Country Club course. “I think Tiger needs a rest,” said US team skipper Davis Love. “They told me they would do whatever I asked them to do and I can guarantee you, neither one of them are very happy about it. “Not because they are sitting out but because they have to wait til tomorrow afternoon to come back. They didn’t play great this morning but they were in it for awhile.” World No. 2 Woods and Stricker were the only US team to lose both their matches during Friday’s opening day of the 39th Ryder Cup. Love decided to sit the 36-year-old Woods even though he rebounded in the afternoon fourball session with seven birdies in a losing cause to Nicolas Colsaerts and Lee Westwood. “I didn’t play very good this morning at all,” Woods said. “I was hitting it awful and not doing anything well. But drove it great this afternoon and was in position.” Woods sizzled with seven birdies but he had to take a back seat to Colsaerts brilliant performance which included eight birdies and an eagle. “Nicolas probably had one of the greatest putting rounds I’ve ever seen,” Woods said. “We had a chance to all square on the last hole, and I missed it.” Woods’ morning match was put on the clock on the seventh hole after he hit a spectator with one of several errant tee shots during that round. It smashed into a fan before bouncing back into the fairway. Woods went over to the downed spectator and tried to talk to the injured man before he was taken away for medical treatment. Woods has a losing record in Ryder Cups and has been part of just one winning Ryder Cup team, back in 1999. His last appearance in the competition on US soil was eight years ago. He played with Stricker at Celtic Manor, two years ago when they won two and lost one. Woods said he met with his hitting coach in between Friday’s sessions which helped him swing better in the afternoon. “I made a few adjustments and I really hit it well this afternoon.” - AFP |
| USA dominate first day of Ryder Cup Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:15 PM PDT  CHICAGO, (Illinois): The United States emerged victorious from a pulsating first day’s play in the 39th Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club yesterday, dominating the afternoon fourballs to take a 5-3 overall lead.In a format that habitually favours the Europeans, Davis Love’s team took the fourballs 3-1 after sharing the alternate ball foursomes 2-2 in the morning’s play. All 24 players were in action during a day which started so promisingly for Europe but which ended so positively for the United States who are out to regain the trophy lost in Wales two years ago. “Just everybody played real well and hung in there and had a lot of fun. Seemed like as the sun came out, we just got better and better,” Love said. The American heroes were rookie Keegan Bradley, showing passion and talent in securing two points with Phil Mickelson, who was winning a record ninth US cap, and Bubba Watson who fired up the big Chicago crowd with his attacking game. “This is one of the most emotional days playing in a Ryder Cup that we’ll ever have,” Mickelson said. “It gets emotion out of every player, good or bad, and this has been one of the biggest highs that we’ve had. “I just love playing with Keegan. He’s just played so good all day and it’s just kept me up the whole time. It’s been awesome.” Tiger Woods was out of sorts for most of the day, losing twice with established partner Steve Stricker. “I didn’t play very good this morning at all,” Woods said. “I was hitting it awful and not doing anything well. But I hit it good this afternoon.” For Europe, Belgian rookie Nicolas Colsaerts excelled with an eagle and eight birdies, but eyebrows were raised over captain Jose Maria Olazabal’s non-selection of Ryder Cup firebrand Ian Poulter for the fourballs after he and Justin Rose had beaten Woods and Stricker in the morning. World No.1 Rory McIlroy played both sessions with fellow Ulsterman Graeme McDowell and they met with mixed success, winning in the morning and losing in the afternoon. “Obviously it was just a high to end this morning and then to try to get ourselves back for the afternoon, just didn’t start as well as we would have liked,” McIlroy said. The US charge in the afternoon was spearheaded by crowd-pleaser Watson who teamed up with US Open champion Webb Simpson to crush Paul Lawrie and Peter Hanson 5 and 4. Then, the on-fire pairing of Mickelson and Bradley led all the way to see off a tired-looking McDowell and McIlroy 2 and 1 in what was the pick of the later matchups. Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar made it 3-0 with a 3 and 2 win over Rose and Martin Kaymer before Colsaerts put on one of the greatest putting displays in Ryder Cup history to carry Lee Westwood on to a one hole win over Woods and Stricker. Europe’s most experienced Ryder Cup player Westwood said that Colsaerts effort in winning a point was vital. “It’s a massive point,” he said. “If we would have lost the day three and a half to a half, it would have been difficult to come back. “We’ve still got our backs against the wall, but two down after the first day, it could have been worse.” Earlier in the day, the atmosphere at Medinah, at 7,658 yards the longest course in Ryder Cup history, was electric as McDowell got proceedings under way shortly after the crack of dawn in chilly conditions. But it soon deflated as Europe took an early command, leaving US skipper Love complaining that it was all too quiet for his liking. Europe were ahead in all four of the foursomes as the lead group stood on the eighth green, but it was Mickelson and Bradley that led the US fightback. At one stage the advantage was briefly with the Americans, but a share of the spoils to get things going seemed a fair result for the morning’s play. It was the first time that had happened in the opening session of the Ryder Cup since 1997 at Valderrama in Spain. All that was to change in the afternoon though as the United States took command and Europe will need to quickly redress the balance in Friday’s second round of foursomes and fourballs. Olazabal said he had been disappointed with the performances of some of his players. “Obviously we are going to have our players’ meeting tonight after the boys have rested and have dinner. We will address what happened today,” he said. “And I’m going to make it clear to the boys that they need to step it up. They need to play better golf – simple as that. The odds are against him. In the last 15 Ryder Cups the team leading after the first day has eventually gone on to win the trophy 12 times. - AFP |
| Beckham back at work after ankle sprain Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:15 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Galaxy star midfielder David Beckham is back in training for the Major League Soccer club after a sprained left ankle and hopes to play in Sunday’s game at Colorado.The English midfielder has not played for the defending MLS champions since injuring his ankle in a 2-0 victory over Vancouver on September 1. The Galaxy has already clinched a berth in November’s MLS championship playoffs. “It’s better,” Beckham said of his injury. “Still a little bit of discomfort but it’s good to be back on the field. Trying to get my fitness back. Hopefully I can get out on the field and stay fit this week and be involved.” Beckham, 37, has scored seven goals, the best total of his MLS career, and has set up nine others in 21 games this season for the Galaxy, 15-11 with four drawn. “This injury came at a tough time for me,” Beckham said. “I was enjoying playing, scoring goals, and that was a disappointing moment. But I’m back and hopefully I can get my fitness back and be back out there.” The Galaxy, with five wins and a draw in the past six starts, must now adjust to having Beckham back in the lineup. “It’s good to see him back on the field,” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. - AFP |
| McLaren chief says Hamilton wrong to leave Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:13 PM PDT  LONDON: Lewis Hamilton has been told by McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh he is making a mistake in leaving for Formula One rivals Mercedes.The German motorsport giants, who supply McLaren with their engines, confirmed earlier yesterday that English driver Hamilton would be joining them on a three-year deal from the start of the 2013 Formula One season. Meanwhile Sauber’s Mexican driver Sergio Perez will replace Hamilton at McLaren. Hamilton, who has been associated with McLaren for 14 years after being discovered by the British-based team as a schoolboy karting racer, will replace seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher at Mercedes from next season. But Whitmarsh is convinced Hamilton is damaging his chances of emulating his hero Ayrton Senna in becoming a triple world champion by leaving McLaren. “Mercedes is a great partner of ours and they are a great team,” Whitmarsh said. “But for anyone leaving McLaren, and he wants to win, I think that’s a mistake because I have faith and belief in this team. “Whether you measure it over the last four races, four years or 40 years, we’re a fantastic team. “So I would say to any driver who wanted to win in this sport ‘come and join McLaren and aspire to join McLaren’. “I wouldn’t advise anyone to leave McLaren if they want to win, but I’ve got to respect Lewis’s decision and really wish him well.” Whitmarsh was adamant McLaren did all they could to hang on to 2008 world champion Hamilton. “I know we made a very big financial offer, bigger than I believe any Formula One driver is enjoying today, other than himself. That is something that I am comfortable with. But ultimately we move forward now.” - AFP |
| Kean “forced to resign” at Blackburn Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:09 PM PDT  LONDON: Steve Kean quit as Blackburn Rovers manager yesterday, saying he’d been “forced to resign” with immediate effect due to his position becoming “untenable”.The Scot had faced constant criticism from Rovers fans throughout his two-year spell in charge at Ewood Park after the club’s owners Venky’s, an Indian-based poultry firm, controversially brought him in to replace the experienced Sam Allardyce. Kean, however, carried on despite the club’s relegation from the elite English Premier League in May. Yet despite Rovers currently lying a promising third in the second division Championship, Kean walked out of the north-west club ahead of Saturday’s match away to Charlton. “For reasons that I cannot discuss on legal advice, it is with deep regret, given my hard work and service for the club for a number of years, that I have been forced to resign as manager of Blackburn Rovers Football Club with immediate effect, due to my position as team manager becoming untenable,” Kean said in a statement released by his lawyers. “I wish to thank all the players and coaching staff for their great support and the majority of the fans, who now see their club heading towards an automatic promotion position back to the Premiership. I wish the club all the very best for the future.” Before this season started the 44-year-old faced fresh pressure when Rovers’ Malaysian global adviser Shebby Singh said Kean would be sacked if the team lost three successive games. As things stand, however, Rovers have just lost once in seven league games this term — a 2-1 home defeat by Middlesbrough last Friday. Kean’s position was further undermined by press reports this week that Tim Sherwood, Rovers captain when they won the Premier League title in 1995, would take over from him as manager in a bid to boost attendances at Ewood Park. Kean’s abrupt exit appeared to take the club’s English officials completely by surprise, with no announcement on Rovers’ official website where he was still being quoted Friday speaking about a “positive week”. Blackburn managing director Derek Shaw appeared as stunned as anyone, telling Britain’s Press Association: “I have been travelling down to London and this is the first I have heard of it.” It is understood Venky’s held talks with Kean after the Middlesbrough defeat yet they had sufficient confidence in the manager to allow him to sign Huddersfield striker Jordan Rhodes for £8 million in the last transfer window. However, calls for Kean to quit continued and Singh stoked the speculation by saing this week the situation at Ewood Park was worsening “day by day”. - AFP |
| Ferdinand reveals hate campaign over Terry case Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:07 PM PDT  LONDON: Anton Ferdinand has revealed he was subjected to a hate campaign in connection with a racist abuse case that saw a Football Association disciplinary panel ban Chelsea captain John Terry for four games.In his first comments after Terry was found guilty, the Queens Park Rangers defender said on Twitter he had received abuse on the micro-blogging site since Thursday’s ruling. His family have also reportedly been targeted by hate mail since the controversial incident in October last year, which led to Terry being charged and later acquitted in a criminal case of a racially aggravated public order offence. “On a serious note people need 2 read the facts before they send stupid tweets 2 me with liar and grass in it,” Ferdinand wrote. Terry was cleared of criminal charges in July, although he admitted in court he had used a racist slur against Ferdinand but said he was merely repeating what he believed Ferdinand had accused him of saying. Despite the court verdict, the FA still found him guilty of a similar charge with their disciplinary process using a “balance of probabilities” burden of proof rather than the English criminal standard of “beyond reasonable doubt”. Last year, the separate FA panel that found Liverpool’s Luis Suarez guilty of racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra said simply using racist language was enough to fall foul of the governing body’s rules, regardless of intent or context. Terry, who has consistently denied all charges against him, is considering whether to appeal the FA panel’s decision. Meanwhile Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson suggested Terry ought to think it “lenient” he’d only received a four-game ban after Suarez was given an eight-match suspension last season. “There is a danger of it resurrecting itself because it has been going on so long,” Ferguson said. “But the fact he got a four-game ban, he may consider that is quite lenient considering Luis Suarez got eight. “It is time to move on and so should the game.” Meanwhile Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of England’s Professional Footballers’ Association, and Premier League counterpart Richard Scudamore both questioned why it had taken so long for the FA to reach a decision. “Almost 12 months on and the John Terry case was still not heard by the FA until the day after Luis Suarez shook hands with Patrice Evra at Anfield,” Taylor said yesterday. “Such a delay has allowed the matter to fester and cause divisions in the football family which will take a long time to heal – if they ever do.” The FA’s disciplinary process was put on hold at the request of prosecutors so as not to prejudice court proceedings. But Scudamore told the Daily Telegraph: “If the argument is that these (charges) are completely separate, irrespective of what the courts decide, if football’s test is different, why can’t we decide (the ruling) if it is a completely different test? “I don’t quite know why one has to wait for the other if the tests are completely different. “It would have been much better for everybody, whether the outcome is positive or negative, if it was done quickly.” Former England captain Terry, 31, retired from international football on Sunday, on the eve of the FA hearing, saying officials had made his position with the national side “untenable”. He is though continuing his club career and the centre-half is available for Chelsea’s Premier League match against Arsenal on Saturday, as he has 14 days from receiving written reasons for the panel’s decision to decide if he wants to appeal. Terry will continue to be free to play until any appeal process is completed. - AFP |
| Hamas urges Barca-Real boycott if Shalit attends Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:03 PM PDT  GAZA CITY, (Palestinian Territories): The Hamas rulers of Gaza called yesterday for a media boycott of next month’s Barcelona-Real Madrid derby if the Catalan club goes ahead with plans to welcome Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to the game.The Palestinian Islamist group, which held Shalit captive for more than five years until his release in a prisoner exchange in October last year, said his attendance at the game on October 7 would be offensive. “We call on all Muslim, Arab and Palestinian media not to broadcast this game if Shalit attends,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. “FC Barcelona’s invitation to the criminal Shalit so they can pay homage to him is an offence to sentiments of the Palestinian people and to Arab and Muslims because Shalit is an Israeli soldier who was on a tank taking part in the killing of Palestinian civilians when he was captured (in 2006),” he said. “We urged FC Barcelona to cancel the invitation.” In a statement posted on its website on Thursday, the club denied that it had invited the Israeli former captive, insisting it had merely agreed to a request from the keen football fan to attend the game. It said that in the face of protests by pro-Palestinian groups, it had also invited both Palestinian federation chief Jibril Rajub and footballer Mahmud Sarsak, who was freed in July after nearly three years held without charge in Israel, as well as the Palestinian envoy to Spain. But Sarsak told AFP on Friday he had yet to receive the invitation. “When I get it, I’ll decide whether or not to go if Shalit is also going,” he said. - AFP |
| Ferrer fights hard to reach Malaysia semi Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:01 PM PDT  KUALA LUMPUR: Top seed and world number five David Ferrer struggled into the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open when he defeated Dutchman Igor Sijsling 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 yesterday.The Spaniard, who only started his campaign in the tournament on Thursday after receiving a first round bye, was sluggish at first in the game against Sijsling, who this week fell 15 places to number 97 in the world rankings. He lost serve once in each of the three sets at the Putra Stadium on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur. But he said overall he was happy with his play in the ATP 250 tournament. “It was such an incredible game with some good rallies,” he said. “I’m happy to have gone through to the semi-finals as I had to play well in the last two sets.” In the semis, he will now meet seventh seed and world number 34 Julien Benneteau of France, who smashed Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-2, 6-2 earlier Friday. “I’ll take it easy, have a good rest and try to go out and give the crowd a great performance in the semi-finals,” Ferrer said of his next game. Meanwhile, Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko, the former world number three and winner of the inaugural Malaysian Open in 2009, retired from his quarter-final against Kei Nishikori after suffering a muscle injury in his left leg. Davydenko, who has dropped to number 44 in the world, had lost the first set against the third seeded Japanese 6-4 before calling it quits. In the semis, Nishikori, who at number 17 is the highest ranked Asian in the world, will meet second seed Juan Monaco of Argentina. “Now that I have qualified for the semi-finals, my thoughts are on my opponent and close friend Monaco,” the 22-year-old said. “I have been practising with him since we arrived in Malaysia. I expect a difficult match as we know each other’s game very well… He likes to play from the baseline so I will have to adjust my game plan accordingly.” In an earlier match, world number 11 Monaco easily defeated Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 6-4. - AFP |
| Win tickets for Spector concert Posted: 28 Sep 2012 06:30 PM PDT
Set to bring their indie-chic style and signature tunes to town, the show follows the success of their addictive singles – 'Chevy Thunder', 'Celestine', 'Never Fade Away' and their #1 debut album 'Enjoy It While It Lasts'. The opening act will be performed by Twilight Action Girl (TAG). All you have to do is :
The questions: FMT: Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/freemalaysiatoday); Twitter (http://twitter.com/fmtoday) Universal Music : Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/UniversalMusicMY); Twitter : (twitter.com/UMusicMalaysia) Please complete the slogan and answer both questions and email us at contest@freemalaysiatoday.com. Please include your full name, contact number and address. Contest deadline is 5pm, Oct 2, 2012. Winners will be notified via email or sms and will be requested to collect the tickets at the Universal Music Malaysia office on Oct 4, 2012. Universal Music Malaysia, G.01, Ground Floor, Wisma Academy, 4A, Jalan 19/1, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. Tel No: 03-79587433 *Please take note that this event is open to attendees – 18 years and above only. The band's debut album, 'Enjoy It While It Lasts' was the highest purchased album, throughout UK's indie record stores and nominated for BBC's Sound Of 2012 Poll in December 2011. More about Spector: Official homepage: www.spector.co.uk YouTube: Youtube.com/user/Spector Twitter: Twitter.com/Spector Facebook: Facebook.com/Spector For more information: Universal Music Malaysia Website Universal Music Malaysia Facebook |
| US intelligence now says Benghazi attack ‘deliberate and organized’ Posted: 28 Sep 2012 06:30 PM PDT
The statement by the office of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper acknowledged that it represented a change in the US intelligence assessment of how and why the attack happened. During the attack on two US government compounds in the eastern Libyan city, four US personnel, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed. Shawn Turner, spokesman for Clapper’s office, said that in the immediate aftermath of the attack, US agencies came to the view that the Benghazi attack had begun spontaneously after protests at the US Embassy in Cairo against a short film made in California lampooning the Prophet Muhammad. Turner said that as US intelligence subsequently learned more about the attack, “we revised our initial assessment to reflect new information indicating that it was a deliberate and organized terrorist attack carried out by extremists.” He said it remained “unclear” if any individual or specific group commanded the attack. US agencies nonetheless believe that some of the militants involved in the attack were “linked to groups affiliated with, or sympathetic to al-Qaeda.” In an apparent reference to a series of contradictory statements by some top Obama administration officials, Turner said intelligence agencies’ “initial assessment” had been passed on “to Executive Branch officials and members of Congress, who used that information to discuss the attack publicly and provide updates as they became available.” One US official familiar with the background to the shifting intelligence assessments said the process of figuring out from scraps of intelligence who perpetrated an event like the Benghazi attack was “imprecise” and “evolving.” Debate over whether militant groups planned the assault or whether the violence resulted from protests against the film insulting Islam has become US election-year fodder. Republican lawmakers have demanded answers about the incident from the Obama administration. Within hours of the attacks ending, some government sources in Washington were already acknowledging they might well have been planned and organized in advance, and that members of two militant factions, Ansar al Shariah and al Qaeda’s North Africa-based affiliate, known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, may have been involved. But top administration officials later made public statements that contradicted that assessment. Shifting assessment On September 14, three days after the attacks, President Barack Obama’s press secretary, Jay Carney, said the United States had no evidence the Benghazi attack was planned. Two days later, Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said preliminary information suggested the attacks were not premeditated and were protests against the anti-Muslim film that provoked demonstrations in Egypt. On September 19, Carney echoed Rice, saying, “Our belief based on the information we had was that it was the video that caused the unrest in Cairo and the video that — and the unrest in Cairo that helped — that precipitated some of the unrest in Benghazi and elsewhere.” A day later, on September 19, Carney was still insisting, “Based on the information that we had at the time and have to this day, we do not have evidence that it was premeditated.” But that same day, one key administration official moved back toward the assessment that the Benghazi assaults had been organized and intentional. At a congressional hearing, Matthew Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, part of the National Intelligence Director’s office, labeled the assaults a “terrorist attack on our embassy” and said the United States was examining information that people involved in the attack had connections to al Qaeda or its North African affiliate. By the next day, Carney was asserting it was “self-evident that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack.” In his statement on Friday, Turner said that while U.S. intelligence agencies now believed the Benghazi attacks were well organized and deliberate, with some involvement of people connected to militant factions, it was not clear if “any group or person exercised overall command and control of the attack, and if extremist group leaders directed their members to participate.” - Reuters |
| At UN, Muslim world questions Western freedom of speech Posted: 28 Sep 2012 06:26 PM PDT
A video made in California depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a fool sparked the storming of US and other Western embassies in many Islamic countries and a deadly suicide bombing in Afghanistan this month. The crisis deepened when a French magazine published caricatures of the Prophet. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was time to put an end to the protection of Islamophobia masquerading as the freedom to speak freely. “Unfortunately, Islamophobia has also become a new form of racism like anti-Semitism. It can no longer be tolerated under the guise of freedom of expression. Freedom does not mean anarchy,” he told the 193-nation UN General Assembly yesterday. Egypt’s newly elected Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, voiced similar sentiments in his speech on Wednesday. “Egypt respects freedom of expression, freedom of expression that is not used to incite hatred against anyone,” he said. “We expect from others, as they expect from us, that they respect our cultural specifics and religious references, and not impose concepts or cultures that are unacceptable to us.” Mursi was one of the first leaders to be democratically elected after Arab Spring revolutions that led to changes in the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen last year. Western states that backed the uprisings have urged these countries to quickly foster democratic reforms and adhere stringently to human rights principles and basic freedoms. They fear a more austere version of Islam could hijack the protest movements. Most Western speakers at the United Nation defended freedom of speech, but shied away from calls by Muslim leaders for an international ban on blasphemy. While repeating his condemnations of the video, US President Barack Obama staunchly defended free speech, riling some of those leaders. “The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech – the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy,” Obama said in a 30-minute speech dominated by this theme. Clash of civilizations Speaking after Obama, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, where more than a dozen people were killed in protests against the anti-Islam film, demanded insults to religion be criminalized. “The international community must not become silent observers and should criminalize such acts that destroy the peace of the world and endanger world security by misusing freedom of expression,” he said. Highlighting the anger of some, about 150 protesters demanded “justice” and chanted “there is no god but Allah” outside the UN building on Thursday. One placard read: “Blaspheming my Prophet must be made a crime at the UN.” Foreign ministers from the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation met yesterday. The film topped the agenda. “This incident demonstrates the serious consequences of abusing the principle of freedom of expression on one side and the freedom of demonstration on the other side,” OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told reporters. Human Rights First and Muslim Public Affairs Council, two US-based advocacy groups, warned of the risks of regulating such freedoms. “Countless incidents show that when governments or religious movements seek to punish offences in the name of combating religious bigotry, violence then ensues and real violations of human rights are perpetrated against targeted individuals,” they said in a joint statement. The 47-member UN Human Rights Council, dominated by developing states, has passed non-binding resolutions against defamation of religion for over a decade. Similar ones were endorsed in the UN General Assembly. European countries, the United States and several Latin American nations in the council opposed the resolutions, arguing that while individual people have human rights, religions do not, and that existing UN pacts – if enforced – were sufficient to curb incitement to hatred and violence. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle attempted to dampen talk of a clash of civilizations on Thursday. “Some would have us believe that the burning embassy buildings are proof of a clash of civilizations,” Westerwelle said in his UN address. “We must not allow ourselves to be deluded by such arguments. This is not a clash of civilizations. It is a clash within civilizations. It is also a struggle for the soul of the movement for change in the Arab world.” - Reuters |
| Obama, Netanyahu seek to get past Iran differences Posted: 28 Sep 2012 06:21 PM PDT
Obama, widely seen as having snubbed Netanyahu by not meeting face to face with him during his US visit, spoke instead by phone to the Israeli prime minister amid signs of movement toward a truce in their war of words over how to confront Tehran. Netanyahu used his UN speech a day earlier to keep pressure on Washington to set a “red line” for Tehran, something Obama has refused to do. But in a softening of his approach, the hawkish Israeli premier signaled that no attack on Iran was imminent before the November 6 US presidential election. With an eye to the close presidential contest, Netanyahu also fielded a call during his New York visit from Obama’s Republican rival, Mitt Romney, who has accused the president of being too hard on a close ally and not tough enough on Iran. Romney has sought to use Obama’s differences with Netanyahu to raise doubts with Jewish-American voters about Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security. Obama’s aides believe, however, that he has played his cards right with Netanyahu, with whom the president has had a notoriously testy relationship. Netanyahu’s strident complaints about US policy on Iran in mid-September plunged US-Israeli relations into crisis, but also spurred a backlash at home and in the US media for seeming to meddle in American politics. In recent days, the Israelis have sought to dial down the rhetoric, culminating in Netanyahu’s speech to the General Assembly, which was seen as sending a message that Israel would not blindside Washington with a unilateral attack on Iran any time soon. “The two leaders underscored that they are in full agreement on the shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” the White House said in a summary of their 20-minute phone conversation. The White House said the two agreed to continue their cooperation, but it stopped short of saying Obama had given any ground on his resistance to issuing an ultimatum to Tehran, as Netanyahu has repeatedly demanded. “I had a very good conversation with President Obama,” Netanyahu told Israel television. “Our teams are talking.” An Obama aide went further, saying, “The temperature is lower than it had been.” Toning down differences Netanyahu dramatically ramped up pressure on Obama earlier this month when he insisted the United States did not have a “moral right” to hold Israel back from taking action against Iran because Washington had not set its own limits on Tehran. That was followed by word that Obama would not meet Netanyahu during the Israeli leader’s visit to address the United Nations. Obama later said pointedly that he would ignore the “noise that’s out there” on the Iran issue. Obama’s aides were furious that Netanyahu was trying to put pressure on the president in the midst of the election campaign and refused to budge on the red-line issue, despite the risk of alienating pro-Israel voters in election battleground states like Florida and Ohio. At the same time, Israeli officials – mindful of the danger of antagonizing the Jewish state’s main ally and of poisoning relations with the man who could occupy the White House for another four years – moved into damage-control mode. Michael Oren, Israeli ambassador to the United States, flew back to Jerusalem last weekend, during which he urged Netanyahu to tone down public statements that could be construed as interfering in the US election or supporting Romney, according to sources in the Jewish community in Washington. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited Chicago and met privately on September 20 with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a former close Obama aide, raising speculation that Emanuel might be used as a back-channel conduit to mend ties with the president. The Israeli desire to defuse the crisis may also have reflected an interpretation of recent US opinion polls showing a widening of Obama’s lead over Romney, who has suffered a series of political stumbles. Romney, speaking to reporters on his campaign plane, said he and Netanyahu agreed Iran must be denied nuclear capabilities but did not agree on specific “red lines” to confront Tehran. “I do not believe in the final analysis we will have to use military action,” Romney said. “I certainly hope we don’t have to. I can’t take that action off the table.” In his UN speech, Netanyahu held up a cartoon-like drawing of a bomb with a fuse and literally drew a red line just below a label reading “final stage,” in which Iran would supposedly be 90 percent along the path to having weapons-grade material. Nevertheless, his warning that Iran would be on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon in less than a year was widely interpreted as some giving breathing space to Obama, who has urged more time for sanctions and diplomacy to work. By referring to a spring or summer 2013 time frame for Iran to complete the next stage of uranium enrichment, the Israeli leader seemed to dispel fears that Israel might strike Iran before the US election. Iran denies it is seeking to build nuclear weaponry. Netanyahu’s praise for Obama’s stern words for Iran in his own UN speech on Tuesday – although it lacked any specific ultimatum – was also seen as a sign that the Israeli leader wanted to quell the unusually public dispute with Washington. “I think we are moving in a direction where the differences that were there, which were always tactical and not strategic, are in fact being managed at this point,” Dennis Ross, Obama’s former Middle East adviser, told MSNBC. Still, White House officials were pleased at avoiding an encounter with Netanyahu, who used an Oval Office meeting in 2011 to lecture Obama on Jewish history. Obama instead kept a lower-than-usual profile at this year’s UN gathering, making a campaign-style appearance on the popular talk show “The View” and then quickly returning to electioneering. - Reuters |
| US plan for emergency Egypt aid hits roadblock Posted: 28 Sep 2012 06:18 PM PDT
Representative Kay Granger, the Texas Republican who chairs the House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee for foreign operations, said the administration’s US$450 bailout proposal for Egypt was premature. “This proposal comes to Congress at a point when the US – Egypt relationship has never been under more scrutiny, and rightly so,” Granger said. “I am not convinced of the urgent need for this assistance, and I cannot support it at this time,” she said, adding that she had put a hold on the funds. Granger’s action reflects unease among some US awmakers over the new Islamist government that has taken the reins in Egypt after a pro-democracy uprising overthrew longtime US ally Hosni Mubarak last year. The Obama administration has nevertheless vowed to push forward with a US$1 billion aid package for Cairo, a point reinforced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week when she met Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. The US assistance proposal had languished during Egypt’s 18 months of political turmoil. The country now faces a severe economic crisis including worsening balance of payments problems and an exodus of foreign investors that has left local banks shouldering much of the lending to the state. The United States was a close ally of Egypt under Mubarak and gives US$1.3 billion in military aid a year to Egypt plus other assistance. Egypt was among the countries swept by violent anti-American protests over an anti-Islam video made in California, and some US lawmakers have raised questions about the future of US assistance, particularly given sharp budget constraints at home. The Obama administration has argued that it is essential to buttress Egypt, the most populous Arab country and the first to sign a peace agreement with US ally Israel. Egypt has requested a US$4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a move the United States supports. Other countries are slowly making good on promises of assistance. Saudi Arabia in June transferred US$1.5 billion as direct budget support, approved US$430 million in project aid and pledged a US$750 million credit line to import oil products. Qatar has also promised US$2 billion in support. - Reuters |
| Trial of Pope Benedict’s former butler to start today Posted: 28 Sep 2012 06:15 PM PDT
The trial of the 46-year-old man who served the pope his meals and helped him dress is due to start at 9:30 a.m. (4.30 p.m. EDT) in the Vatican’s little-used tribunal, a small room with rich paneled wood and a papal emblem on its ceiling. His arrest on May 23 caused an international furor after police found confidential documents in his apartment inside the Vatican, a dramatic twist that threw the global media spotlight on an institution battling to defend its reputation from allegations of graft. A three-judge panel will decide the fate of Gabriele, whom the pope used to call “Paoletto” (little Paul) and who is now described in Vatican documents as “the defendant”. Gabriele stands accused of stealing the pontiff’s personal papers and leaking them to the media in what he says was an attempt to clean up corruption at the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. According to an indictment last August, Gabriele told investigators he had acted because he saw “evil and corruption everywhere in the Church” and wanted to help root it out “because the pope was not sufficiently informed”. The documents pointed to a power struggle at the Church’s highest levels. Gabriele, who said he saw himself as a whistle-blowing “agent of the Holy Spirit”, is widely expected to be convicted on charges of aggravated theft because he has confessed. The trial procedures will be based on a 19th century Italian penal code and could result in a prison sentence of up to four years for Gabriele and one year for Claudio Sciarpelletti, a computer expert charged with aiding and abetting him. Corruption allegations It is not clear how long the trial might last. Gabriele, a father of three who lived a simple but comfortable life in the city-state, told investigators after his arrest in May that he believed a shock “could be a healthy thing to bring the Church back on the right track”. His arrest capped nearly five months of intrigue and suspense after a string of documents and private letters found their way into the Italian media. The most notorious of the letters were written to the pope by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, currently the Vatican’s ambassador to Washington, who was deputy governor of Vatican City at the time. In one, Vigano complains that when he took office in 2009, he discovered corruption, nepotism and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts to outside companies at inflated prices. Vigano later wrote to the pope about a smear campaign against him by other Vatican officials who were upset that he had taken drastic steps to clean up the purchasing procedures. Despite begging not to be moved away from the Vatican, Vigano was later transferred to Washington by Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. Since the papal state has no prison, Gabriele would serve time in an Italian jail, though the pope is widely expected to pardon him. - Reuters |
| US drops Iranian MEK dissident group from terrorism list Posted: 28 Sep 2012 06:10 PM PDT
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took the decision, effective on Friday, in view of the MEK’s public renunciation of violence, the absence of confirmed acts of terrorism by the MEK for more than a decade, and their cooperation in the peaceful closure of their paramilitary base in Iraq, the State Department said in a statement. “With today’s actions, the Department does not overlook or forget the MEK’s past acts of terrorism, including its involvement in the killing of US citizens in Iran in the 1970s and an attack on US soil in 1992,” the statement said. “The Department also has serious concerns about the MEK as an organization, particularly with regard to allegations of abuse committed against its own members.” Clinton was in New York this week for a meeting of the UN General Assembly. Iran on Thursday blamed the MEK, which it called “a terrorist sect,” for accosting a senior Iranian diplomat in New York and condemned the US decision remove the group from the terrorism list. The MEK’s Paris-based leader Maryam Rajavi, who has sought to rebrand the group as a potential opposition force in Iran, welcomed the decision. “This designation was a gift to the mullahs’ (clerical) regime, and removing it is a major blow because they understand better than anyone else the potential of the movement to operate and flourish in Iran,” she told Reuters in an interview. “This decision should put an end to a policy of appeasement which has existed for the past 15 years, and it has once again proven that wherever there is a fraction of freedom and justice our resistance will be the victorious one.” But a senior US official, briefing reporters after Clinton’s decision was announced, said Washington did not see the group as viable opposition or democratic movement. “We have no evidence and we have no confidence that the MEK is an organization that can promote democratic values that we would like to see in Iran,” the official said. “They are not part of our picture in terms of the future of Iran.” Intense lobbying Officials said last week that Clinton had decided to remove the MEK from the terrorism list, but the formal announcement was made only after appropriate notification of Congress. The US decision comes after years of intense lobbying by the MEK, which had seen many of its members stranded in Iraq as the group fell out of Baghdad’s favor after Saddam Hussein’s downfall in 2003. The group marshaled the support of dozens of members of Congress as well as political, government and media notables. Public figures who have endorsed the MEK’s campaign included former CIA directors R. James Woolsey and Porter Goss, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, and Mitchell Reiss, a former State Department official who is a top foreign policy adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Prominent Democratic Party figures who have supported the MEK have included former Pennsylvania and Vermont Governors Ed Rendell and Howard Dean. People familiar with its activities said that the MEK had paid generous fees to some of those who made speeches in support of its de-listing. A senior US official dismissed suggestions that the lobbying campaign had played a role in the group’s rehabilitation. “These decisions are made on the merit and not made to appease any group of lobbyists no matter how famous they are,” the official told reporters. “The United States government is not going to take anyone off the list if it genuinely believes that they pose an imminent threats, that they are going to commit terrorist acts, or that they are somehow wedded to violence.” Leaving camp Ashraf The United States had repeatedly said its decision on the MEK’s terrorist designation hinged partly on the group’s remaining members leaving Camp Ashraf, an Iraqi base where they had lived for decades, and moving to a former US military base in Baghdad from which they were expected to be resettled overseas. Officials said this month that the final large group of dissidents had moved from Camp Ashraf to the new location, ending a long standoff with Iraqi authorities. The group, also known as the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, calls for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical leaders and fought alongside Saddam’s forces in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. It also led a guerrilla campaign against the US-backed Shah of Iran during the 1970s, including attacks on American targets. Removal from the list means Washington will no longer block the group’s property and interests in property in the United States and that US entities may engage in transactions with the MEK without obtaining a license. - Reuters |
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