China :: Asia

Najibs approval rating has taken a beating due to the Bersih crackdown and rising prices. File pic KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 DAPs Lim Kit Siang reminded Datuk Seri Najib Razak today that the ruling Barisan Nasionals (BN) mandate was nearing its expiry, and warned the prime minister to carry out his promised reforms soon or face voter backlash in the coming polls. The BN still has some 19 months to go before its mandate ends in March 2013, but Najib, whose popularity dipped six points in a recent opinion poll, is widely expected to call for general elections by the end of this year to avoid the repercussions of a predicted gloomy global economy next year. Malaysians flew the national flag yesterday but most of them have a common disquieting question Quo Vadis Malaysia? the senior opposition leader asked. (The Latin phrase translates to where are you going, Malaysia?) Lim noted that many of yesterdays National Day messages from the ruling coalitions component party leaders call...

It isnt a hard decision to make, the former Muslims are more than welcome to stay, the Muslims who are doing the attacking, kick them the hell out. KGS NOTE : The Tundra Tabloids met in Israel a Christian convert from Islam, a Palestinian former Muslim, who was as fearful for his life as the person interviewed in this article. Its a fact of life, youre dead meat if you leave Islam. H/T: Frank Kitman , translated by Trinity NORWAY: Christian converts from Islam flee in fear from muslims at asylum reception center Dagen.No : Muslims at the asylum center told him: This is Jihad, holy war, and we are waiting for at fatwa (licence to kill) from the local imam at the mosque in Sandnes I had to escape and flee the asylum reception center in fear for my life, Arsland tells the news paper Dagen. Arsland is from Afghanistan, converted to Christianity a while a go, and is now baptized as a Christian. Arsland is friends with Ali, the Christian convert from islam who got attacked with boiling water...

Eid-ul-Fitr is being celebrated today all-over Pakistan, including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan with great religious zeal, fervor and festivity, marking the culmination of the holy month of Ramazan. Big Eid congregations will be held all-over Pakistan. Special arrangements had been made to offer Eid prayer across the country. On the occasion, special prayers will be offered for the progress and prosperity of the country, unity of the Ummah, solution of their problems and liberation of Muslim territories, including occupied Kashmir. In the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the Eid congregations too place at more than 300 places. In Islamabad, the largest congregation will be held at the grand Faisal Mosque, where the high-ups of the government also offered Eid prayers. In Rawalpindi, the biggest Eid congregation will be held at the historic Liaquat Bagh. Following the Eid pray...

MOSCOW- Bailiffs Wednesday raided the offices of BP in Moscow, seeking documents on its failed deal with Rosneft, the latest chapter in the British energy giant's troubled history in Russia. The search came less than a day after Rosneft and ExxonMobil agreed a stunning Arctic exploration deal overseen by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin which analysts said should effectively replace a now defunct BP accord. The bailiffs said that the raid was conducted in line with a ruling by an arbitration court in the Siberian region of Tyumen, which is hearing a case over the Rosneft deal that collapsed in May. "The agents are looking at all the files for documents relevant to the ruling of the arbitration court of the Tyumen region," the bailiffs said in a statement, quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency. The court earlier this year agreed to hear a case from minority shareholders in the ...

By ROBERT R. REQUINTINA Despite the hard times, here and abroad, Filipinos have reason to smile as the cool ber months begin Thursday, Sept. 1, ushering in the joyous countdown to Christmas. Radio programs begin playing holiday tunes as the worlds longest Christmas season unfolds in the Philippines, Asias predominantly Christian nation, as the mornings are expected to get colder in the coming days. While many wait for the last-minute shopping, usually after the release of 13th month pay and Christmas bonuses in mid-December, many Filipinos begin preparing their lists for holiday shopping and gift-giving. Still 116 days before Christmas, shopping malls also become busy and crowded with shoppers and onlookers as the ber months progress. The atmosphere is expected to become more lively and happy until the stores are finally decked with holiday attractions. While strong typhoons are expected to hit the country toward the end of the year, the ber suffix (September, October, November, and ...

(CNN) -- Nisreen lies listless curled under a blanket, an armed rebel guard at her door. She looks vulnerable, and younger than her age - 19. She has soft features, a heart-shaped face, large brown eyes and full lips. She speaks haltingly, often falling into a tortured silence, unable to verbalize her thoughts and emotions as haunting images of what she did play out like a curse in her mind. "One of them had facial hair, like this." She gestures in the shape of a goatee around her mouth, recalling the face of one of the young men she shot dead. Nisreen became an executioner for Moammar Gadhafi's forces. She admits she murdered 11 rebels, all prisoners of the Gadhafi regime. (CNN is not identifying Nisreen with her full name because of her experiences in Gadhafi's all-female brigade.) "They brought one person in at a time and they said shoot him," she tells us, her voice quiet, her words chilling. "There was someone on either side of me and one beh...

By Marina Mahathir, The Star We still need the fundamental freedoms that every human being desires, especially freedom of speech and expression. Our foreparents understood 54 years ago that we had a fundamental right to freedom and self-determination. FIRST of all, let me wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Also, as the days happen to almost coincide this year, Selamat Hari Merdeka. In many ways, this is very significant. Raya is the day we free ourselves from a month of abstinence and restraint. Ramadan is a time for reflection on what good we have, or have not, done over the past year. It is a time to ask for forgiveness for our past sins and mistakes, and hurt we may have caused others. Sadly, this Ramadan has hardly been an exemplary one. With insults galore, shouting and screaming, burning and threats, it has hardly been one of restraint and reflection, at least on the part of public figures. Nor was there any sense of shame at these violations of the good an...

Karachi: Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that youth are the assets of the nation, and that their services will be utilised for community policing across the country. We have had good experience of youth policing in Islamabad, and it is our endeavour to further avail their services in all major cities in collaboration with the local area police, Malik told media representatives after Eid prayers and a visit to the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He also said that the country was facing multi-pronged challenges, adding that the government was determined to curb lawlessness and tackle the issue of terrorism. [The] Government will soon bring all the arrested terrorists before the public, he stated. Referring to attacks in Quetta and elsewhere in Balochistan, Malik said that a handful of activists belonging to the Lashkar-i-Jangvi and the Balochistan Liberation...

Ciawi (ANTARA News) The natural resources and technical abilities as well as research facilities which actually could be optimized further made President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono to believe that in some time to come Indonesia will emerge as a country playing an important role in food production regionally and globally. I say that this country has good food prospects. The world population will continue to increase so that the need for standard food and energy will be big, and at the same time food and energy security will be facing a global challenge, the President said when visiting a Livestock Research Center at the Livestock Training Center in Ciawi, Bogor, Monday afternoon. The President added that not only the Indonesia`s population is increasing, the middle class is also growing, which means they will need good quality food, which cannot be realized without research and innovation. The Head of State said if the economy is improving the budget for research and development would be ...

By DANIEL MAURER The closing of Elvies Turo-Turo a couple of years ago left East Villagers (New York) starved for Filipino food, but earlier this summer Sa Aming Nayon opened across from where Elvies once stood, and now Maharlika, the brunch pop-up that was first at Resto Leon and then briefly at 5 Ninth , has found permanent residence at 111 First Avenue. Noel Cruz, a partner in the operation along with Nicole Ponseca, Enzo Lim, and chef Miguel Trinidad (all have family ties to the Philippines except for the chef, who is Dominican but has traveled the country extensively) tells us that dinner and brunch service quietly started a week ago. In the next weeks, lunch will also be added and the menu, below, will expand to include a mix of really approachable things and really deep-rooted traditional items. Created with Admarkets flickrSLiDR . Photos: Noah Fecks. Actually, there are already more than a couple of traditional items on the menu most notably balut, a fertilized, 17-day-old...

By Jerry E. Esplanada Former US Ambassador Kristie Kenney was well-traveled in the Philippines and was extremely sociable. Unlike her distinguished predecessors, however, she was a dismal failure in helping the Filipinos defend our democracy. So said Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on Tuesday in a text message to the Inquirer where he described as most unfortunate Kenneys criticism of the late President Corazon Aquino in a 2009 cable to the US Department of State. In the unclassified memo that was released by WikiLeaks, the online whistle-blower, Kenney called Aquino an icon of democracy but only a partial icon of morality. Kenney, now the US envoy to Thailand, also called the late President a tarnished and weak leader. In taking up the cudgels for Aquino, whom he called our champion of democracy, Del Rosario said, It would seem that she (Kenney) constantly preferred instead to be favorably looked upon by the Palace. During a brief phone conversation the other day, the former Ph...

FUZHOU, Aug 31 (Xinhua) -- Nanmadol, the 11th tropical storm hits China this year, made a landfall in Jinjiang City of southeast China's Fujian Province at 2:20 a.m. Wednesday, local authorities said. Nanmadol was packing winds up to 72 km per hour in the center when landing the city. It is expected to hover around the coastal regions of Jinjiang for a while. The tropical storm brings strong rainfall to the region, and the precipitation is expected to last until September 2, local meteorological authority said. (Xinhua)

Libya's opposition National Transitional Council has announced a deadline for forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi in his hometown of Sirte to surrender. NTC leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Tuesday in the rebel-stronghold of Benghazi that rebels will resort to military action in Sirte if they get no indication by Saturday of a peaceful end to the conflict there. Rebels say they are bracing for a final battle to gain control of most of the country. Mr. Gadhafi has not been seen since rebel fighters seized the capital, Tripoli, last week, and Sirte is considered one area where he may be hiding. Algeria allowed some of Mr. Gadhafi's family members including his wife Safiya, daughter Aisha, and two of his sons, Mohammad and Hannibal to enter the country from Libya on Monday. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the Gadhafi family was under a U.N.-mandate...

Like the TT has stated many times, the forces fighting Gaddafi are just as brutal and thuggish. The man murdered his own daughters due to his own sense of honor.Utterly despicable and grotesque and very Islamic. KGS Father slit throats of three daughters in honour killing after they were raped by Gaddafis troops By LIZ HAZELTON Last updated at 5:10 PM on 30th August 2011 A Libyan father killed his three daughters after they were raped by Gaddafis troops to lift the shame on his family, a human rights group said today. The girls, aged 15, 17 and 18 were allegedly assaulted by soldiers at a school in the town of Tomina, near the war-shattered city of Misrata, during a two-month siege. When they returned home, their father slit their throats in a so-called honour killing, according to Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).

Naushehro Feroze, Sindh, Heavy rains lashed Naushehro Feroze district and other areas of Sindh province, displacing a large number of people, and sending low lying areas inundated. Rains coupled with winds lashed Naushehro Feroze, Moro and other areas, compelling administration to call an emergency. A large number of people were displaced after low lying areas went flooded. Makeshift camps were set up for the displaced families in the building of government schools when food and other facilities were being provided to them. Several other areas of the province including Hyderabad, Mirpurkahs, Nawabshah and Ghotki also received heavy showers.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has released eight children groomed by Taliban insurgents to become suicide bombers. Mr. Karzai greeted the group of boys, including a seven-year-old, during a ceremony at the presidential palace Tuesday. The president said five of the children would be released to their parents, while authorities search for homes for another two. Mr. Karzai said the last child would not return to his family. The eight children are among 20 youths detained after they were recruited to carry out suicide bombings. The Associated Press reports that the remaining 12 would be returned to their homes after education and reintegration programs. The Taliban have used children to carry out attacks in the past. In May, Afghan officials said a 12-year-old suicide bomber killed four people in the eastern province of Paktika.

New York: United Nations Secretary General has called on states that have yet to sign up to the ban on nuclear testing to make it their "priority". Warning that voluntary moratoriums on nuclear weapon tests are not enough, Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that China, North Korea, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and the United States were still yet to ratify the treaty. Over the course of the Cold War, hundreds of nuclear weapon tests left behind a devastating legacy for local citizens and their natural environment. Out of a total listed number of 195 States, 182 have so far signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty NTBT and 154 have ratified it, but it cannot come into force until "hold-out states" also sign up. August 29 was official International Day Against Nuclear Tests, and coincides with 20th anniversary of historic events that led to closure ...

ISLAMABAD: Registered Afghans in Pakistan are informed that UNHCR Chamkani and Baleli Voluntary Repatriation Centres (VRCs) in Peshawar and Quetta will be closed on the eve Eidul Fitr. Afghans are advised not to approach the VRCs on these dates. While, Chamkani VRC in Peshawar will be closed from 30th August to 3rd September 2011 and will resume working from 04th September 2011:- Baleli VRC center will be closed from 31st August to 02 September 2011 and will resume working from 3rd September 2011. Registered Afghans in Pakistan are encouraged to contact UNHCR on the below given phone numbers before their intended day of return.

Islamabad, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani highly commended the outstanding contribution to the earthquake and Flood relief efforts by Turkey and by Ambassador Soysal, the UN Secretary General[s Special Envoy for assistance to Pakistan. The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the personal efforts of Ambassador Rauf Engin Soysal, in this context when he paid a farewell call on him before taking up his new position as Turkey's Ambassador to the Council of Europe. The Prime Minister also conveyed his gratitude for the visit of the UN Secretary General and the President of Turkey Mr. Erdogan to Pakistan after the floods in 2010. The Turkish leadership had made tremendous contributions for the relief and rehabilitation of the flood affected people. Their sincere gesture of solidarity is etched in our minds and has further endeared the people of Turkey to the people of Paki...

SYDNEY - No Australian soldier will face a court martial over the death of six civilians, including five children, during a 2009 raid in Afghanistan, the military said Tuesday. Three Australian Defence Force personnel were originally charged over the deaths which occurred as special operations soldiers were clearing a compound where they believed a Taliban leader was hiding. In May a judge advocate ruled two of the three would not need to face a court martial, and on Tuesday the defence force said charges against the third had been formally withdrawn. "Defence was committed to ensuring a proper legal process was observed throughout this matter so that the individuals charged received a fair trial and that the integrity of the military legal process was preserved," Defence force chief General David Hurley said. "The legal processes that were adhered to in relation to this ...

Karachi, The Pakistan Supreme Court has said that Sindhs Chief Minister is duty-bound to protect the people of the province. Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry made these comments during the hearing the suo motu case on the bloodshed in Karachi, the Dawn reports. The Sindh Governments counsel, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, presented his arguments before the court, and said that the security situation had improved since the courts notice on the issue. Pirzada also stated that the percentage of court convictions was very low and that police and Rangers were not being properly utilised. The court adjourned the next hearing until September 5. Earlier on Monday, the apex court rejected the governments report on targets killings in Karachi and asked Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq to place on record intelligence agencies investigation reports into the matter.

BANGKOK, Aug 30 - Thailand's Ministry of Public Health has remained vigilant for the possibility of an outbreak of bird flu after patients contracting the disease were reported in Vietnam and Cambodia, but no patients and no poultry dying of suspicious causes have been reported here. Dr Pasakorn Akarasewi, director of Thailand's Bureau of Epidemiology said that the United Nations (UN ) warned of a possible resurgence of the bird flu outbreak, calling for all countries to heighten surveillance. According to the latest report, a six-year-old girl is among the eight deaths from avian flu virus H5N1 in Cambodia this year. However, in Thailand, there have been no H5N1 patients so far and no suspicious deaths of poultry. The public health ministry has cooperated with the livestock department to monitor the situation closely after Vietnam and Cambodia reported H5N1 patients. Regarding drug resistance problems, he said no irregularity was detected in the use of influenza drug Tamiflu (...

Shweyga Mullah, a nanny for Hannibal and Alinesays Aline burned her with boiling water.Moammar Gadhafi told his people he lived modestly during his nearly 42-year rule over Libya, often sleeping in a Bedouin tent. Even if that was true for the leader, it certainly wasn't for his sons. At a seaside compound in western Tripoli, the Gadhafi boys enjoyed a decadent lifestyle that his people could only dream about, while perpetrating unspeakable horrors on the staff that served their every whim. CNN visited the seaside homes Sunday. The first house we entered was apparently the "party" beach condo with an oversized door that led into sleek, modern, black-and-white rooms. It had been ransacked by the rebels, but still it was spectacular, with panoramic ocean views and plenty of evidence of the hedonism for which Hannibal Gadhafi -- one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons -- is famous. Discarded bottles of Johnny Walker Blue Label Scotch and Laurent Perrier pink champagne cases litter...

Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, a three-day holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, said the new moon has been sighted and that Ramadan ends Monday with the Eid feast to begin the next day. Egypt and several other Arab countries said they will also observe the holiday starting Tuesday. Eid is the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal and a major holiday. As most significant Islamic events depend on a lunar sighting, the festival's timing can vary in different countries. In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim majority country, religious authorities announced that Eid will fall on Wednesday. The Ministry of Religious Affairs in Jakarta said the decision was made after consultations with astronomers, Muslim scholars and other experts who determined that E...

Pulau Tidung merupakan sebuah kawasan wisata bahari di utara Jakarta, yang dapat ditempuh hanya dengan 2 jam perjalanan kapal dari Muara Angke. Terumbu karang yang indah dan terawat dengan baik, serta spesies ikan yang melimpah, cukup menjadi daya tarik dari pulau yang memiliki jembatan penghubung antarpulau ini. Dengan kapal nelayan berkapasitas 100 orang, kita akan dibawa mengarungi Laut Jawa, menuju pulau-pulau dalam gugusan Kepulauan Seribu yang sangat indah. Dengan bermodalkan Rp300.000-an per orangnya, kita sudah dapat melakukan perjalanan 2 hari 1 malam ke pulau ini. Lengkap dengan semua kegiatan yang meliputi bersepeda, snorkeling, melihat matahari terbit dan terbenam, barbeque plus bermain-main di pantai, rasanya 2 hari 1 malam terasa sangat singkat. Pulau Tidung terdiri dari Pulau Tidung Besar dan Pulau Tidung Kecil, yang dihubungkan dengan sebuah jembatan kayu. Di jembatan ini pula ada sebuah cekungan laut yang cukup dalam, dan dimanfaatkan sebagai lokasi lompat tinggi, bai...

London: Mariners may have travelled the Aegean Sea, situated between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey, even before the end of the last ice age to extract coveted volcanic rocks for tools and weapons, according to new evidence. A new technique which dates obsidian volcanic glass which can be fashioned into tools suggests that people were mining for obsidian in Mediterranean waters and shipping the once valuable rocks from the island of Melos in modern day Greece as far back as 15,000 years ago. Obsidian was a precious natural rock-glass found only in Melos, some in [the modern-day Greek areas of] Antiparos and Yali, Past Horizons quoted Nicolaos Laskaris of the University of the Aegean in Greece, as saying. From there it was spread all over the Aegean and in the continent too through contacts of trade, he added. Laskaris and his colleagues turned to a method called obsidian hydration ...

Washington: Physicists with the Institute of Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Lasers (IUSL) at The City College of New York have presented a new way to map spiralling light that could help harness untapped data channels in optical fibres. Increased bandwidth would ease the burden on fibre-optic telecommunications networks taxed by an ever-growing demand for audio, video and digital media. The new model, developed by graduate student Giovanni Milione, Professor Robert Alfano and colleagues, could even spur enhancements in quantum computing and other applications. People now can detect (light in) the ground channel, but this gives us a way to detect and measure a higher number of channels, said Milione. With such heavy traffic funneled through a single channel, there is great interest in exploiting others that can be occupied by complex forms of light, he added. The study was recently published ...

Washington, Danish researchers have found that a number of plants, which are used for illegal abortions in Tanzania, can make the uterus tissue contract and therefore stop lethal bleedings after birth. This new knowledge discovered by the researchers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, is now to be conveyed in rural Tanzania where access to medicine often is difficult. Every year around 350,000 women die globally due to postpartum bleedings - blood loss during childbirth. On the African continent, one in 16 women die during their pregnancy and in some countries the number is as high as every eighth woman. The reason is poor access to medical assistance often because the women either lack money or because they live far away. The knowledge about herbs, which can help the uterus contract after childbirth, is therefore often the only life saving opportunity i...

Jakarta, 29 August (AKI/Jakarta Post) - Indonesia's Islam Defenders Front (FPI) is calling for a dialogue with filmmaker Hanung Bramantyo over the latters film, which promotes religious pluralism. We refuse [for the film to be screened], so lets sit together in a discussion to decide which parts of the movie should be cut, FPI chief Habib Salim Alatas said Monday. Habib added that the discussion was necessary to prevent further demonstrations over the film. The FPI is a hard-line Islamic group that claims to enforce moralism and defend Islamic principles. Hanung should talk about the films mission, and after that we shall decide whether the movie should be screened at theaters. On Saturday last week, hundreds of FPI members demonstrated in front of SCTV television station in Central Jakarta over its plan to broadcast the film on the night of Idul Fitri. After meeting with the protesters, SCTV management later decided not to screen the film. In April, FPI also demonstrated against t...

Islamabad: In order to mark Pakistani Paralympians one year to go to the London 2012 Paralympic games, British High Commissioner, Adam Thomson hosted a reception at the British High Commission in Islamabad on Monday to meet some of the Paralympian hopefuls for the London 2012 Games. High Commissioner, Adam Thomson said, Today marks one year to go to the 2012 London Paralympic Games. It has been a pleasure to host some of Pakistans Paralympian hopefuls. Some of them are already medal winners. They are an inspiration for the many people here in Pakistan who have a physical disability and they show that having a disability isnt a barrier to achieving your potential. They are some of the most determined and inspiring athletes I have ever met. The UK wants to harness the opportunity the Games present to bring about a change in the way people think, feel and behave towards disability and disab...

Maaf Zahir Batin & Happy Merdeka Day! Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin to all Muslims in Malaysia. The coinciding of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, the 54th National Day and the 48th Malaysia Day should be a special triple occasion of joy and celebrations for all Malaysians. It must be a matter of concern to all Malaysians, however, that this is not the case with the recent irresponsible and incessant ramping-up and incitement of race and religious hatred and tensions through baseless and incendiary allegations by certain media. A call must urgently go out to all Muslim and non-Muslim Malaysians to dedicate themselves to promote the values of justice, freedom, love and compassion on the triple occasion of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, 54th National Day and 48th Malaysia Day values which are common to all the great religions which have found a home in the country. Whether we are Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli, whether Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus...

NOSHKI : Two persons were gunned down over land dispute in Chagai area Monday. According to details armed men opened fire on Abdul Baqi and Bangul in Pull Choto area of Chagai today. They died on the spot. Another Aminullah was also injured in the firing. Armed men fled form the scene. Cause of their killing is stated to be old enmity due over land dispute. Their dead bodies were brought to civil hospital Noshki and later handed over to their relatives. The dead belonged to Quetta.

Bhubaneswar: India Monday postponed test of its nuclear-capable intermediate range Agni II missile from a test range in Orissa due to a technical snag, official sources said, India Asia News Service IANS reported. "Launch of Agni II mission is postponed due to a technical snag," a senior defence official told newsmen. The surface-to- surface missile with range of over 2,000 km was scheduled to be launched Monday by army personnel as part of training exercise from Wheeler's Island in Bhadrak district, 200km from here.

Islamabad: PTI Chief Imran Khan Sunday demanded the government to remove Interior Minister Rehman Malik from his post without any delay in light of serious allegations against him leveled by PPP leader Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza. Reacting to the latest political fluctuation Imran Khan expressed shock at the revelations and accusations made by PPP leader Zulfiqar Mirza who stepped down from party as well as office in protest of Lyari operation. "Now Rehman Malik should resign and his membership of the Senate be suspended till he is cleared of the charges leveled against him", Khan said in a statment. PTI chief also demanded that the President of Pakistan to clear his position in terms of his relationship with Mr Mirza and the degree to which he is complicit in this latest action of Mirza's. He also expressed the fear that this latest salvo fired by Mirza will add fuel to the alread...

Lahore: Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said the safeguarding of national interest is his governments key priority. He said Pakistan wanted to maintain friendly ties with the United States on the basis of mutual respect and mutual interest, without compromising on each others national interests. We have explained to the US government that if it is answerable to Congress, then we are equally accountable to the Parliament, the Dawn quoted Gilani, as saying. Gilani said there was no question of raising fingers at Pakistans role in the fight against terrorism. Pakistan had to take up the role of a frontline state role in the fight against terror due to its strategic position, and that Pakistans intelligence agencies and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had launched joint action against high-level targets in the past. Condemning the cross-border attack in Chitral, so...

The PAS deputy president calls Utusan's report lies and distortions. PETALING JAYA: PAS deputy president, Mohamad Sabu, will take legal action against Utusan Malaysia for the distorted and false reporting of his ceramah in Penangs Tasek Gelugor on Augt 21. Last Saturday, the Umno-owned daily had quoted the PAS leader as saying that the communists who attacked the Bukit Kepong police station during the Emergency on Feb 3, 1950, were heroes and not the 17 policemen who died in the attack. Utusan also quoted him as saying that the countrys first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, and Umnos first president, Onn Jaafar, should not be recognised as freedom fighters because they were also British officers. Up to 20 police reports have been lodged against Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, over the weekend accompanied by accusations that he intends to re-write history to turn Malaysia into a republic. Yesterday, Mat Sabu declined to comment on the report, saying that he could not rememb...

MIC's S Vell Paari says if it is true that there is an attempt to topple Najib, then MIC must back the prime minister. KUALA LUMPUR: MIC should reconsider its position in Barisan Nasional if Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is toppled from power by certain forces within Umno, said party Central Working Committee (CWC) member S Vell Paari. In a news report published in Tamil Nesan yesterday, he said there was intense speculation that Najib is facing a challenge in Umno. If there is any truth to the speculation, Vell Paari urged MIC to defend Najib. He is the best prime minister we have in terms of catering for the Indian community, so we must stand by him. We dont know if the rumour is true but MIC must protect Najib against those who are working against the prime minister, he added. Vell Paari, who raised the matter during the MIC CWC meeting yesterday, said that it was his personal opinion. This is my own opinion. It is up to the party leadership and CWC members to accept my opini...

(Utusan Malaysia) - Bekas Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Musa Hassan melabelkan Mohamed Sabu sebagai pengganas dan pengkhianat negara apabila mendakwa Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM) ialah hero sebenar dalam peristiwa Bukit Kepong dan bukannya anggota keselamatan serta ahli keluarga mereka. Sehubungan itu, katanya, Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) perlu memantau tindak-tanduk Timbalan Presiden Pas itu dan mengambil tindakan tegas terhadapnya termasuk dikenakan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) kerana kenyataannya itu menunjukkan beliau mempunyai kecenderungan menjadi pengganas. Menurut Musa, kenyataan Mat Sabu itu jelas menunjukkan beliau menyokong pengganas sedangkan sejarah membuktikan betapa kejamnya komunis terhadap anggota pasukan keselamatan dan rakyat yang menentang perjuangan mereka suatu ketika dahulu. Lupakah Mat Sabu betapa ramai anggota pasukan keselamatan dibunuh dengan kejam oleh komunis, berapa banyak rumah penduduk kampung dibakar apabila enggan memberi beras kepada mereka? A...

Libya's rebel government said Sunday it will not extradite the Libyan man convicted in the 1988 bombing of a U.S.-bound jetliner which killed 270 people when it exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. The Transitional National Council's justice minister told reporters in Tripoli that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi already has been tried and convicted in Scotland for bombing Pan Am flight 103. He said the rebels will not hand over Libyan citizens as former leader Moammar Gadhafi did. Later Sunday, CNN television reported that al-Megrahi had been found in Tripoli and appeared near death. A correspondent for the network said he found al-Megrahi at a spacious villa in the Libyan capital guarded by at least six security cameras and attended to by relatives. CNN footage showed al-Megrahi apparently laying unconscious in a bed. His family said he is being kept alive with oxygen and a fluid drip, tha...

"Ali", an Christian convert in a Norwegian Alylum Reception Centre, feels the peace of Islam ..who later attacked him with acid, for non-compliance with Ramadan. Five Christians vs. 150 Muslims Just the kind of odds RoP adherents like: A an ex-Muslim Convert to Christianity was attacked with boiling water and acid by Muslims at an asylum reception centre in Norway on Friday. Ali (Not his real name), an Asylum seeker in an immigration centre in Jaeren, Norway, had boiling water poured over him after he converted to Christianity and would not comply with Ramadan fasting rules. He and the other converts at the centre now fear for their lives If you do not return to Islam, we will kill you was the message from the other asylum seekers at the Asylum Reception in H, in the Jaeren region of Norway . He refuses to disclose his real name for fear of further reprisals from them. This is also why he is pictured face down in the image above. If Afghan authorities found out about the in...

Baru-baru ini, muncul sebuah komunitas yang menarik di Indonesia bernama Indonesia360 yang memfokuskan diri pada sebuah teknik fotografi, yakni VR photography yang belum terlalu dikenal di Indonesia, walaupun teknik ini sebenarnya sudah dikenal sejak lama di luar negeri. VR (Virtual Reality) 360o photography adalah sebuah seni fotografi interaktif berupa panorama 360o yang memberikan anda sensasi yang berbeda ketika anda melihat hasil daripada foto yang sudah diolah sedemikian rupa. Didirikan oleh Riefa Istamar bersama dengan Andhi Noorcholis, Sonny Soleman dan Andreas Ariesta dengan satu misi, yakni untuk mempromosikan Indonesia dengan sebuah cara yang unik dan lain daripada yang lain. Riefa Istamar sendiri telah mendalami landscape photography semenjak tahun 2008 dibantu oleh temannya, Pram. Pada tahun 2009 berkat kegigihannya, akhirnya beliau memberanikan diri untuk memulai bisnisnya sendiri yang dinamakan idVR360. Dengan kemampuan yang tidak diragukan lagi, hasil karyanyapun men...

SPEAKING OUT ... Ibrahim Yusuf A mosqueteacher who assaulted four pupils with a two-foot long stick says he is hoping to put the episode behind him after he was given a community sentence. Married dad-of-eight Ibrahim Yusuf, 52, admitted hitting the children while under his tuition at the Raza Jamia Masjid Mosque, Grimshaw Street, Accrington. This week a judge at Blackburn Magistrates Court handed the grandad-of-one a 12-month community order with 12 months supervision after he pleaded guilty to four charges of assault. He was also ordered to pay 85 in court costs and 25 compensation costs on each of the assault charges. More than 200 people have signed a petition in support of Mr Yusuf to return and teach at the mosque stating they are united in deep regret following this unfortunate and isolated incident. Speaking exclusively to the Observer following the sentence Mr Yusuf, of Preston New Road, Blackburn, said: "I am relieved it is over. I wasnt scared that ...

By MEANN ORTIZ In Samantha Sottos fictional world, the road to immortality begins with dreams and ends with a choice and the will to overcome death. Her journey to becoming a published author also began with a dream, albeit one that you would not expect from someone who just launched her book. After all, while Sam wanted to write just as much as anybody does, it was not something that she consciously pursued. I think everybody has these dreams that you put at the back of your head. But even when I was writing, I didnt feel like I was living my dream; I was just amusing myself. When I typed the end, thats when the dream started: now I have a book, what if I publish it? By persevering and making the right choices, her dream is now reality: Before Ever After was released in the Philippines last July 27, and in the US and other international markets last August 2. As of this writing, Sam is promoting the book in the US, doing interviews and blog tours. The Philippine Consulate General in...