China :: Asia

'It is both tragic and harrowing that Najib should see it fit today to warn, threaten or otherwise hold the Chinese at ransom in such a cavalier fashion.' Chinese must choose - vote MCA or else no gov't posts Onyourtoes: Now I am confused, PM. You told us to support MCA or be left out of the government. But are Chinese, through MCA, part of the government in the first place? I think the Chinese do not want to be in charge of road accidents, dengue fever or clogged drains anymore. See the irony, before the Chinese could contemplate your calling, your outsourced extremists, Perkasa, has already warned the MCA and Gerakan to toe the line or lose Malay votes. So how? When you said Chinese representation in government, do you mean Chinese will be allowed more opportunities to do business only? What is the point of doing business in an increasingly uncompetitive and rent-seeking environment? How do you do business and have better quality of life when the governm...

Jakarta ( ANTARA News) Indonesia as the ASEAN chair will host an ASEAN Youth Cultural Exchange Festival (AYCEF) 2011 on May 1, 2011 to familiarize each member state with the culture of the association`s members. So far, six ASEAN member states have registered their music groups, namely Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam as well as the ASEAN Secretariat, Djauhari Oratmangun, the foreign ministry`s director general for ASEAN affairs, said at a press conference. AYCEF will feature pop-rock art music by 10 bands from each of the ten ASEAN member states. The event will be held at the Backstage Beach Concert Cafe, Ancol, Jakarta. Indonesia will be represented by Pee Wee Gaskins pop-rock group. The music festival aims to enhance awareness, understanding and solidarity among the youths of ASEAN through the pop-rock music exchange from member states of ASEAN. Oratmangun said the youth are the next generation of the peoples of ASEAN so that this activity was expected...

SEOUL, May 1 (Yonhap) -- The worst yellow dust storms this year are forecast to blanket South Korea on Sunday as winds continue to bring a thick layer of dust from the desert areas in northeastern China. The weather agency posted a yellow dust advisory at 5 a.m. for five northwestern islands and issued another warning for central and southwestern provinces four hours later. The dust warnings are likely to be expanded nationwide later in the afternoon as winds will bring more dust clouds to the peninsula, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. The agency said that the level of dust particles in the air is expected to exceed 800 micrograms per cubic meter in some regions, prompting it to issue the highest-level warning. "This yellow dust forecast to hit the country until tomorrow will be the worst this year and is highly likely to lead to the issuances of the highest-level warning," a KMA official said. The KMA issues the highest warning when the dust level in the ...

Syrian activists say six people were killed in the flashpoint city of Daraa on Saturday, after the military and snipers opened fire on civilians. Activists say a woman and her two daughters were among those killed when a tank shell hit their home. Witnesses say troops had moved into Daraa to seize control of a prominent mosque , where anti-government protesters had been gathering. The military crackdown took place one day after activists and witnesses said at least 65 people were killed when government forces moved in to suppress opposition protests across Syria. The majority of Friday's deaths were reported in Daraa. In another development in the Daraa region, 138 more members of President Bashar al-Assad's Baath party resigned in protest against the government's crackdown. Several hundred had resigned earlier. Meanwhile, activists say security forces in Damascus arrested 11 ...

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Saturday urged NATO to negotiate an end to airstrikes, accusing the international coalition of killing civilians and destroying the nation's infrastructure in a bid to take over its oil production. "Come and negotiate with us. You are the ones attacking us. You are the ones terrifying our kids and destroying our infrastructure. You American, French and British come and negotiate with us," Gadhafi said during a rambling 45-minute address on Libyan state TV. It was a rare appearance for the leader, who has not been seen in public since international forces began bombing regime targets last month. The airstrikes started after the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution authorizing any means necessary to protect civilians demanding the ouster of the ruler, who has been in power for nearly 42 years. From the time NATO began its operation on March 31, the organization had conducted 4,398 sorties, of which 1,821 were s...

Karachi: A demolition team, under the directives of PTCL HR General Manager Administration and Security Business Zone South Karachi, Khalid Pervaiz Raja, leveled illegal constructions in CTO Compound on I.I Chundrigar Road, here on Saturday. He also constituted a team for taking action against those who had erected encroachments. He warned of taking strict action against squatters, encroaching the PTCL land.

JAKARTA, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao left here on Saturday afternoon after concluding a two-day official visit to Indonesia. On Saturday morning, Wen delivered an important speech in Jakarta, saying China will strengthen its good-neighborly relations with Indonesia and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation. During his visit, Wen met with Indonesian leaders and both sides pledged to enhance the strategic partnership between their two countries. The premier on Friday visited University of Al Azhar Indonesia and met with a medical team which participated in rescue operations after a devastating quake hit southwest China's Sichuan Province in 2008. Indonesia is the second and last leg of Wen's Southeast Asian tour, which has already taken him to Malaysia. (Xinhua)

Washington: The insurgency in Afghanistan continues to enjoy sanctuary in the Pakistan border region, from where they can regenerate insurgent command and control and operational capacity, and Islamabad needs to do more to eliminate the safe terrorist havens, a US report has said. Insurgent capacity continues to be supported by sanctuaries and logistical support originating in Pakistan, and insurgents will likely retain operational momentum in areas where these support structures exist, the Department of Defense said in a report. Consolidating security gains made during the reporting period requires more progress with Pakistan to eliminate these sanctuaries, it added. The report noted that although putting pressure on insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan would not be sufficient to end the Afghanistan conflict in the near-term, it would fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the conflic...

SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has won two United Nations awards in recognition of its efforts to connect rural villages to the Internet and cut administrative red tape, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said Saturday. The U.N. Public Service Awards are the "most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service" that rewards public service institutions for their achievements that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration across the world, according to the program's Web site. (Yonhap)

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Saturday urged NATO to negotiate an end to airstrikes, accusing the international coalition of killing civilians and destroying the nation's infrastructure in a bid to take over its oil production. "Come and negotiate with us. You are the ones attacking us. You are the ones terrifying our kids and destroying our infrastructure. You American, French and British come and negotiate with us," Gadhafi said during a rambling 45-minute address on Libyan state TV. It was a rare appearance for the leader, who has not been seen in public since international forces began bombing regime targets last month. The airstrikes started after the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution authorizing any means necessary to protect civilians demanding the ouster of the ruler, who has been in power for nearly 42 years. At times, Gadhafi's address appeared to be a tirade against NATO and the United Nations. "What are you trying ...

KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam today demanded police explain his receiving a compact disc (CD) containing the full version of the sex video allegedly featuring Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at his parliamentary office yesterday. Manikavasagam asked how the CD could have been be distributed when the original copy of the sex video had been handed over to the police. He also said after watching the CD multiple times that the person in the clip was not Anwar. I have seen the VCD about three times and I also watched again this morning but it is confirmed that the actor is not Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The actors physical attributes and his hair is all different. This is the full CD so I would like the police to investigate and I also mentioned in the police report that Datuk T had given the original CD to the police... how is the CD being distributed [now?] he told reporters after lodging a report at Dang Wangi police station here. He said the CD proved that the police were un...

On Wednesday night, photographer and studio owner Edward Suhadi spent eight hours on a boat going from Bacan Island to Ternate in North Maluku. He was not making the trip to the remote area to take photos of elusive, exotic animals, but something almost as rare young, well-educated Indonesians who had volunteered to teach in rural areas and make a huge impact in the lives of the children there. Edward had just spent 18 days documenting the work of 10 volunteers from Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesia Teaches). These young people had been sent to underfunded rural schools in remote villages on the small islands around Bacan to teach elementary school students. Indonesia Mengajar is a volunteer-based educational program that was started by Anies Baswedan, the rector at Paramadina University in Jakarta, to send top graduates from around the country to teach in rural areas. In November 2010, the group sent out its first batch of 51 volunteers to five districts in Riau, Lampung, East Kalimantan...

London, Bribing obese people is the most effective way to get them to lose weight, according to a new study. And the solution is bound to bring success. Nearly, 400 people took part in a pounds for pounds initiative, which pays the patients to lose some extra flabs and almost half of them lost more than 5 pc of their body weight. On an average, the subjects shed 8.8lb (4kg) in a year and were paid about 180 pounds. The researchers say that it shows the scheme works equally well as existing weight-loss programmes and could be extended across the country. The successful recruitment to this programme suggests that a financial incentives weight-loss programme may be acceptable to the general public and to NHS employees, and to both men and women, the Telegraph quoted Dr Clare Relton, of the University of Sheffield as saying. The pounds for pounds initiative recruited 402 people, 42.5 pc of wh...

KARACHI:Unidentified armed men set on fire a bus and resorted to aerial firing near Aladin Park on Friday night, police said. They said that unidentified armed men intercepted a bus of rout number D-7 bearing registration number JE-5260 and set on fire it on Main Rashid Minshas Road near Aladin Park. The armed men also resorted to aerial firing in few localities of Gulistan-e-Jauhar forcing shops keepers to pull down their shutters. Sources said that the motive behind the incidents is to create panic among people to restrict at home on Saturday after the strike called by nationalists and religious parties against the recent house count process which they termed bogus.

KARACHI: Four people including a cleric were killed in different firing and violence incidents in Karachi on Friday, police said. In the first incident a prayer leader was shot dead while going to lead the Fajjar prayer in Solider Bazaar area. A duty officer at Solider Bazaar Police Station said that Mulana Irshadullah Abbassi, 45 son of Mulana Abdullah Abbassi was on his way to lead Fajjar Prayer at Dua Masjid when unidentified armed men riding a bike opened fire on him near the Mosque in Garden East area and escaped. The victim died on the spot. The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities. The victim was the resident of Moon Apartments, Garden East area and had been leading prayers at Dua Masjid for last 25 years. He was also a teacher at seminary Jamia Binoria. The body was later handed over to the heirs after medico-legal formalities. No case could...

We'd like to go home (Asia Sentinel) Pirates demand release of their mates by Indian authorities Indian sailors have become specific targets of Somali pirates due to the Indian Navy's strong response to a problem that has assumed alarming proportions, making Indian seafarers wary of operating ships that pass through waters frequented by Somalia pirates in the Arabian Sea and northwestern Indian Ocean, a major trade transit area. The Indian Navy has responded aggressively to pirate attacks, capturing 61 at one go in March. The pirates had been living on a hijacked ship about 1,000 km off the Indian coast. As a result, the pirates have targeted Indian seamen. Freed or rescued seamen say they have been tortured mercilessly. India's seafaring community is estimated at over 100,000, forming 6 percent of the global merchant mariners. Matters have come to a head recently after Somali pirates refused to release seven members of a 15-man crew aboard MV Asphalt Venture t...

Islamabad: Three persons were booked by Dhudial Police as they intervene into the matter of judicial work at village Dhoke Alfu.Bailiff Ghulam Hassan of Civil Judge Muhammad Aslam Panjotha went to village Dhoke Alfu to arrest an accused whose warrant of arrest wasissued by the court. When the bailiff tried to arrest Nasir Raza, he resisted. In the meantime two women also came and they interfere into the judicial work. ASI Munir Ahmad registered a case against the accused and started searching them. In the meantime a gunman of judicial Magistrate Choa Saiden Shah empowered a person when he came to appear before the court. Constable Gun Man Nisar Ahmad arrested Ali Murtaza Shah who was possessing 30 bore pistol and 12 bullets. On the order the Judge Sub Inspector Nosherwan registered a case against the accused and started investigation.

Islamabad:Joint Action Committee of PIA Employees (JACPIAE) has demanded raise in salaries of PIA employees what they said it had become difficult for them to meet both ends The representatives of Joint Action Committee of PIA Employees (JACPIAE) gathered here in order to discuss the long-awaited issues of PIA employees and find out the solution, says a press release issued here Friday. It said that prices of all commodities have soared during the last couple of years and according to the safe estimation, inflation has escalated more than 90 percent and the price of petroleum has increased by more than 8 percent, JACPIAE spokesman shared the statistics. JACPIAE demanded unanimously to the PIA management to raise the salaries of the employees as there has been yearly salary increase in every government organization, especially the last year's 50percent increment in government employee...

AUSTRALIA, April 29 (AAP) - Prince William and Catherine Middleton have completed the fairytale, marrying in an elegant ceremony at Westminster Abbey. A beaming Catherine Middleton captivated the world after stepping out at the Abbey in a stunning ivory silk dress for her wedding to William. Her transformation from a commoner to a future queen was complete on Friday in London as she entranced a global audience of two billion people. The new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were declared man and wife at 11.20am (2020 AEST). The cool, overcast weather failed to put a dampener on the biggest royal event in three decades as hundreds of thousands turned London red, white and blue for the big day. In a time of economic uncertainty and the fallout from savage budget cuts, Britons enjoyed the chance to forget about their troubles and wildly celebrate the nuptials of Britain's future king and queen. Catherine delighted romantics across the world in a Sarah Burton-designed outfit which will set...

Rakyat perlu bangkit untuk mengakhiri budaya keganasan polis, kata peguam Fadiah Nadwa Fikri dari NGO Lawyers for Liberty. COMMENT Fadiah Nadwa Fikri Dalam masa sehari semalam, Malaysia telah bertukar kepada sebuah negara polis, itulah kata-kata yang diungkapkan Tunku Abdul Rahman berikutan Operasi Lalang yang berlaku pada tahun 1987 yang yang menyaksikan penangkapan pemimpin-pemmpin barisan pembangkang dan aktivis-aktivis yang lantang bersuara dalam mengkritik dasar pemerintahan Barisan Nasional. Operasi Lalang 1987 yang didalangi Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad ketika itu dengan menggunakan kuasa polis di bawah undang-undang tahan tanpa bicara, Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) menyaksikan sebuah kematian demokrasi, pencabulan hak asasi dan prinsip kebebasan, dan penghinaan terhadap Perlembagaan Persekutuan, yang merupakan undang-undang tertinggi di Malaysia. Negara polis adalah didefinasikan sebagai sebuah negara yang dikawal oleh sebuah kerajaan yang bersifat menekan dan menindas secara ...

Yogyakarta, April 29 (ANTARA) - Deputy Bank Indonesia Governor Ardhayadi Mitroadmodjo expects the Indonesian economy to expand 6-6.5 percent in 2011 and 6.1-6.6 percent in 2012 on improving export and investment performance. Among the sectors that would contribute to the economic growth would be trade, hotel, restaurant and processing industry, he said at a discussion on Bank Indonesia`s monetary policy and sustainable regional economic development here on Thursday. The processing industry was expected to grow amid optimism about high demand in the export and domestic markets, he said. Yet the rising global commodity prices coupled with strong domestic demand would increase the risk of high inflationary pressure, he said. As the global economic recovery showed signs of positive developments, the Indonesian economy expanded 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2011, he said. "The growth was fueled by investment and exports which grew 10 percent and 8 percent respectively," he s...

This group is commonly dubbed the underclass. Their story does not sell newspapers. They have no public appeal. They are not newsworthy. COMMENT - FMT No one in Malaysia wants to know about this particular minority group. Not BN. Not Pakatan. Not even the editors of a few papers who refused to tell their story. Shame on them! Theirs is a story of a forgotten group, whose lives mean nothing to others. This neglected lot isnt detected under anybodys radar. They have been abandoned, even by their own kind. This group is commonly dubbed the underclass. Their story does not sell newspapers. They have no public appeal. They are not newsworthy. Who are they? They are Malaysian Indians. On April 26, MIC deputy president, Dr S Subramaniam, claimed that Indians were ashamed of their community and were looked down by the other races. According to him, 45% of the countrys crimes involved Indians. This is a serious charge: The Indian population of 2 million (out of 29 million people), is responsibl...

Jakarta, April 29 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at Merdeka Palace here Friday, is to receive a courtesy call by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. The official welcoming ceremony will be held at 5 pm local time in the front yard of the Merdeka Palace, and it will be followed by a bilateral meeting between the two countries` delegations. Yudhoyono and Jiabao are also scheduled to witness the signing of several memorandums of understanding in the fields of trade, industry, energy and diplomacy. The two leaders will issue a joint press statement at 5 pm local time. A banquet will be held to honor Prime Minister Jiabao at the State Palace at 8 pm local time. Jiabao`s three-day visit to Indonesia will be his first since he became China`s prime minister in 2003. He arrived in Jakarta on Thursday morning and paid respects at the Kalibata Heroes` Cemetery on Friday morning. He was also scheduled to visit Al Azhar University. On Saturday (April 30), Jiabao is scheduled to meet A...

More clips of the sex video allegedly depicting opposition leader and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim have surfaced on YouTube . The four clips, lasting between four minutes to 4:24 minutes, resemble the 22-minute video shown to journalists on March 21 at the Carcosa Seri Negara hotel. This is the third time portions of the sex video have been leaked online, but unlike the first two times - which showed only the beginning and ending of the complete video - the four new clips contain explicit sex acts. However, the video posted by user "rabiaab11" had been taken down late last night due to the website's policy on "nudity or sexual content". Based on the information on YouTube , the user posted the four videos between 2pm to 6pm yesterday. The video featured several sex acts lasting about seven minutes, beginning with the woman performing oral sex on the man, followed by the woman straddling the man and ending with the man in the mis...

The Umno-MCA relationship is on the rocks and the question now is when will they split. COMMENT Even rock solid marriages tend to flounder sometimes. But when it comes to marriages of convenience, what can one expect? The key word here is convenience. The Chinese-based political party MCA is not convenient to Umno anymore. Even though Umno has made some politically correct statements about MCA, it would not hestitate to cut the links with MCA. Umno would rather shore up its own race-based ideology rather than save the MCA sinking ship. When MCA and Umno formalised their political marriage in 1953, it was an attempt to help each other before independence. Marriage councillors are likely to agree that when two political parties gets married the inevitable will happen. English novelist Henry Fielding who wrote Tom Jones once said: There is one fool at least in every married couple. Right now the question is, how foolish the MCA must be feeling. In the early days of the Alliance, Umno, MCA...

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) - South Korea's national security adviser met with China's chief nuclear envoy Friday, their first encounter after WikiLeaks revealed allegations that the former South Korean nuclear negotiator had spoken critically of the Chinese official. Chun Yung-woo, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and national security, and Chinese nuclear Wu Dawei discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula and ways to resume six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs, a government official said. Further details were not immediately available. Wu has been in Seoul for talks on how to get the stalled six-party negotiating process moving again. Wu and his South Korean counterpart, Wi Sung-lac, agreed in their Tuesday meeting that Pyongyang should first hold bilateral nuclear talks with Seoul before the full six-party talks reopen. The possibility of a meeting between Wu and national security adviser Chun has drawn media attention because of reported...

The wife of slain Batticaloa Commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), on Thursday verified that the dead body shown in the photo released on Wednesday was that of her husband, Col. Ramesh. On Wednesday, a former member of the LTTE identified a photo leaked in recent days by the soldiers of the SLA as that of showing the dead body of Col. Ramesh, who had come to SLA controlled territory with civilians during the final hours of Vanni war in May 2009. Vathsalathevi Thurairasasingham, the wife of Col Ramesh [Interview in Tamil, Courtesy: Para Prabha, A UK based freelance journalist, Para Prabha, told TamilNet Thursday that the wife of Col. Ramesh, Vathsala Thurairasasingham, who has fled the island, was prepared to give evidence verifying the identity of her husband in any international investigation. According to an earlier leaked video footage, filmed while Sri Lanka Army soldiers were interrogating the former Tiger commander on 22 May 2009, Col. Ramesh con...

Libyan military officials say pro-government forces have regained control of a border post in the western Wazin region, after rebels took over the crossing last week. The French news agency quotes witnesses who say some rebels fled into neighboring Tunisia on Thursday, as they were being chased by forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi. Meanwhile, pro-government forces and rebels are battling for control of the airport in the rebel-held city of Misrata. Earlier, opposition sources said Mr. Gadhafi's forces had been firing rockets at Misrata and the western town of Zintan following NATO airstrikes to halt government attacks on Misrata's port. On Wednesday, a NATO warplane mistakenly attacked a rebel position on the front lines in Misrata, killing 12 fighters and wounding several others. The United Nations Security Council met behind closed doors Thursday to discuss Libya. The Counc...

Robert Gates: Outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is the only defense chief in U.S. history to be asked to remain in the post by a newly elected president. He was sworn in under President Barack Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, in 2006. In the early 1990s, Gates served as the head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. He is the only career officer in CIA history to rise from entry-level employee to director. Gates joined the agency in 1966, spending nearly three decades as an intelligence professional. He served nearly nine years on the White House National Security Council, and was deputy national security adviser for President George H.W. Bush. Before becoming defense secretary, Gates was the president of one of the nation's largest universities, Texas A&M home to the George Bush School of Government and Public Service. Leon Panetta: President Obama's nominee for new U.S. defense secretary, Leon Panetta, has a long hist...

LAHORE, Uncontrolled electricity shortfall of 5,000 Mega Watt, has made the masses as senseless. And no remedial initiatives are being observed to provide relief to public for boosting them up socially or economically. It was expressed by Mian Muhammad Tariq Shafi, Regional Chairman FPCCI and Ch Aamer Ata Bajwa, Dr Shehla Javed Akram in their joint statement on present scenario of country. They said due to electricity crisis all official affairs and operations got badly effected especially in industrial units the productivity process has been disconnected which caused to close the businesses. Being victimization of these crises the graph of poverty and unemployment is getting high volume terribly. Exports targets is next phase even we are unable to meet the local requirement. In this regards dams are essential to be constructed on war footing. While rejecting the price hiking ambiguous f...

An explosion in a busy cafe in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh has killed at least 15 people and wounded several others, according to local officials. Moroccan officials said on Thursday that they suspect the attack at Argana cafe in the city's main Jamaa el-Fna square was the work of a suicide bomber. "According to the information I have, it could have been perpetrated by a suicide bomber," an official in the regional governor's office told the AFP news agency. "We found nails in one of the bodies," added the official, who was in a hospital where some of the bodies were taken. Moroccan television, quoting interior ministry officials, said 20 people were also injured and said foreigners were among the victims. The state-run 2M channel reported that the dead comprised six French nationals, five Moroccans and four foreigners whose nationality it did not give, . Rescuers were dispatched to the scene and an investigation was...