Making new money ?

Travelling on Afghanistan's main Jalalabad to Torkham road, you eventually arrive at Shaddle Bazaar, a market of around 30 shops in the eastern province of Nangarhar, on the border with Pakistan.

At first glance, it looks like any other normal market offering everyday goods.

But in reality, this is one of Afghanistan's biggest opium markets.

Farmers from Nangarhar and other adjacent provinces bring opium to Shaddle to sell. Much of it comes from Nangarhar and Helmand - two of Afghanistan's biggest opium-producing provinces.

Stupid Ferry !

HONOLULU - A dozen surfing protestors temporarily blocked the first-ever passenger ferry service among the Hawaiian islands as it tried to complete its second voyage, saying the craft could harm marine life.

Hours after the Hawaii Superferry’s maiden voyage from Honolulu to Maui and back, it was stalled for more than an hour outside Kauai’s Lihue harbor before Coast Guard patrol boats cleared away the surfers and escorted the 349-foot vessel to the dock. Cars were still being driven off the ferry when it was scheduled to be on its way back to Honolulu.

The four-deck, double-hulled ship, named Alakai, turned back from the Lihue harbor to the cheers of several hundred protesters beating drums and shouting Hawaiian chants along a seawall, witnesses said. The protestors, who paddled out to within a few yards of the ship, objected to the ferry’s failure to obtain an environmental impact report before launching.

France's Sarkozy wants G8 to become G13

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday that the G8 should eventually become the G13 adding China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa to the existing group of leading industrialized countries.

"The G8 should continue its slow transformation," Sarkozy said in a speech to French ambassadors.

"I want the G8 to become the G13."

U.S. Attorney General Gonzales resigns

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing a senior administration official.

The official said an official announcement would be made later in the day.

Sony Sweet Bio Battery !

TOKYO - Sony has developed an environmentally-friendly prototype battery that runs on sugars and that can generate enough electricity to power a music player and a pair of speakers, the Japanese company said. The bio battery's casing is made of a vegetable-based plastic.

It measures 1.5 inches along each edge and works by pouring sugar solution into the unit, where enzymes break it down to generate electricity. Test cells had an output of 50 milliwatts, Sony said.

"Sugar is a naturally occurring energy source produced by plants through photosynthesis," Sony said in a statement.

"It is therefore regenerative, and can be found in most areas of the earth, underlining the potential for sugar-based batteries as an ecologically-friendly energy device of the future."

The company said it aims to produce the batteries for commercial use, without specifying when.

Good work for the environmen !!! More companies should do the same too for a better future ...

Midwest storms deliver knockout punch to power lines

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of people were without power after their homes were battered by fierce winds and flooding rainstorms that slammed the rain-soaked Midwest.

Tornado warnings were issued Saturday afternoon for parts of central and southeast Ohio. Downed trees and power lines were reported in the southern part of the state, said National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Hatzos.

Flooding this week spread across an 80-mile swath through the northwest and north central parts of the state. Gov. Ted Strickland toured some of the damaged areas Saturday.

"What I've tried to do and what we've all tried to do is let these folks know ... that we are working to get assistance to them as rapidly as possible," Strickland said.

Powerful storms rolling through the Upper Midwest during most of the past week caused disastrous floods from southeastern Minnesota to Ohio that were blamed for at least 18 deaths.

In southern Michigan, the skies were clearing but more than 100,000 customers were without power, utilities said. The National Weather Service confirmed multiple tornadoes touched down Friday in a 12-mile area in Livingston, Genesee and Oakland counties.

Peru quake victims face long, cold nights

PISCO, Peru - An unforgiving wind lashes Juan Escate as he huddles around a bonfire with his three children, chilling him as he ponders how to fulfill his wife’s dying plea.

Last week’s magnitude-8 earthquake sent Escate’s home on the outskirts of Pisco tumbling down, burying his wife Doris in rubble as she rushed their 16-year-old daughter to safety.

“Promise me you’ll take care of my children,” he says were his wife’s last words.

May god be with you all......

my website news sponsored by datco ... ..

Fire! Fire! and more Fire !!!

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Fires burning across southern Greece that razed dozens of villages and killed at least 49 people were stabilized Sunday, but fire officials worried thick smoke and strong winds might hamper emergency workers' efforts.

"It's not getting worse," Fire Brigade Officer Nikos Tsogas said of the fires, but added "we have to act fast because the winds might pick up."

Greek officials have arrested and charged two individuals in connection with the fires.

One of the individuals is a 65-year-old man, who witnesses said they saw torching areas in the southern Peloponnese region near the town of Areopolis, located 190 km (120 miles) southwest of Athens.

The second person was a 77-year-old woman who reportedly started a fire while cooking in her garden in Zaharo, one of the hardest hit areas in the south. Tsogas said authorities are deeming her behavior criminal neglect. Officials are also investigating a gas canister explosive device found attached to a cell phone on the outskirts of Athens, he said.

He's still out there. The hunt for bin Laden

Sept. 3, 2007 issue - The Americans were getting close. It was early in the winter of 2004-05, and Osama bin Laden and his entourage were holed up in a mountain hideaway along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Suddenly, a sentry, posted several kilometers away, spotted a patrol of U.S. soldiers who seemed to be heading straight for bin Laden's redoubt.

The sentry radioed an alert, and word quickly passed among the Qaeda leader's 40-odd bodyguards to prepare to remove "the Sheik," as bin Laden is known to his followers, to a fallback position. As Sheik Said, a senior Egyptian Qaeda operative, later told the story, the anxiety level was so high that the bodyguards were close to using the code word to kill bin Laden and commit suicide. According to Said, bin Laden had decreed that he would never be captured.

"If there's a 99 percent risk of the Sheik's being captured, he told his men that they should all die and martyr him as well," Said told Omar Farooqi, a Taliban liaison officer to Al Qaeda who spoke to a NEWSWEEK reporter in Afghanistan.

The secret word was never given. As the Qaeda sentry watched the U.S. troops, the patrol started moving in a different direction. Bin Laden's men later concluded that the soldiers had nearly stumbled on their hideout by accident. (One former U.S. intelligence officer told NEWSWEEK that he was aware of official reporting on this incident.)

And so it has gone for six years. American intelligence officials interviewed by NEWSWEEK ruefully agree that the hunt to find bin Laden has been more a game of chance than good or "actionable" intelligence.

Since bin Laden slipped away from Tora Bora in December 2001, U.S. intelligence has never had better than a 50-50 certainty about his whereabouts. "There hasn't been a serious lead on Osama bin Laden since early 2002," says Bruce Riedel, who recently retired as a South Asia expert at the CIA.

"What we're doing now is shooting in the dark in outer space. The chances of hitting anything are zero."

More to be read in newsweek

Venetian Macao Boldest Move !!!

HONG KONG (AP) - The new casinos popping up in Macau in the past three years have helped the Chinese territory surpass the Las Vegas Strip as the world's most lucrative gambling center.

This week, the city begins its most ambitious _ and perhaps riskiest _ phase of development with Tuesday's opening of the US$2.4 billion (euro1.75 billion) Venetian Macao Resort Hotel. It's the latest mega project from American billionaire Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

The big bet is that Macau can be much more than a playground for day-tripping gamblers _ mostly from China _ who spend most of their time in the casinos.

Developers are hoping the tiny city on the southern Chinese coast will also be able to attract shoppers, conventioneers and tourists hungry for gourmet dinners, pool-side sun-tanning and glitzy shows. The Venetian Macao is the first mega resort that will try to bring in the new crowds of visitors willing to spend two or three days in the city.

With gondoliers sailing down canals, the 3,000-room Venetian tries to recreate the beauty of Venice. The complex also boasts a 15,000-seat sports arena, retail space for 350 stores, 1.2 million square feet of convention space, fine dining, and a Cirque du Soleil-produced show. Everything will be housed in what will be the largest building in Asia and the second largest in the world, just behind a Boeing Co. plant in the northwestern U.S. state of Washington.

J.P. Morgan Securities analyst Billy Ng said the Venetian's plan makes sense to him. The mega resort "will broaden the customer base,'' he said.

"In theory, it should bring in a lot of customers who have never thought about going to Macau,'' he added.

Ng and some other observers are also bullish that Las Vegas Sands can capitalize on its expertise in running trade shows at casinos in Vegas and replicate that success in Macau. The Venetian's convention facilities will help fill up the thousands of rooms and boost weekday traffic, they say.

Business travelers to conventions have a larger budget to spend on hotels and the Venetian will probably be attractive to this segment, said Jonathan Galaviz, a partner at Globalysis Ltd., a Las Vegas-based consultancy.

Fluent in seven languages

BALING: Great-grandmother Yam Said never attended school but can proudly boast of being able to speak seven languages and a Chinese dialect.

Yam, 98, who has 13 great-grandchildren, picked up English and Japanese during British rule and the Japanese occupation while she learned Thai, Javanese, Hindi and Tamil when working in estates in her early days.

Yam, who is fondly known as Tok Som by her kampung folk, also speaks fluent Hokkien, which she learnt from her Chinese friends. Her favourite memories are those of Merdeka 50 years ago when the country fought for independence and the struggles of the leaders and people.

Although feeble and weak with age now, Yam’s eyes lighted up when she recollected her days as an outspoken young woman who refused to be cowered by the orang putih or Japanese soldiers.

“During the British occupation, my job was to pluck coconuts after the soldiers found out I could climb trees,” she recalled with a chuckle when met at her home in Kampung Titi Mentalin in Lanai here.

“When the Japanese came, I worked as a cook. I learnt to speak their language and was not tortured. Those days, the Japanese looked up to you if you could speak their mother tongue,” she added.

Yam, who grew up in Pendang, moved to Lanai in Baling after her marriage. She had a son who passed away two years ago and nine grandchildren who still keep in touch with her. Yam has declined to live with any of her grandchildren as she wants to remain in her small wooden house which she referred to as her “castle”.

Her grandchildren will send her food three times a day and help clean the house.

Despite her age, Yam still believes in being independent and supports herself by picking cotton to make into soft pillows.

Yam is proud to see how much the country has developed since Merdeka.

“We have certainly come a long way!” she said, flashing a toothless grin.

A really true Malaysian

Helicopter crashes in Iraq, killing 14 soldiers

U.S. military says no indication of hostile fire in incident

BAGHDAD - A helicopter went down in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing all 14 U.S. soldiers aboard, the military said, the deadliest crash since January 2005.

The military said initial indications showed the aircraft experienced a mechanical problem and was not brought down by hostile fire, but the cause of the crash was still under investigation.

The UH-60 Black Hawk was part of a pair of helicopters on a nighttime operation when the crash occurred. The four crew members and 10 passengers who perished in the crash were assigned to Task Force Lightning, the military said. It did not release identities pending notification of relatives.

Pro-democracy students arrested in Myanmar

Group says 9 detained in protest against military regime over gas prices

BANGKOK, Thailand - Myanmar’s military regime has arrested at least nine leaders of a pro-democracy group which had staged a rare protest against massive fuel price hikes, an activist group said Wednesday.

The Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma said in a release that virtually the entire leadership of the 88 Generation Students was taken to a detention center in Yangon.

Five university students and three members of another activist group were also arrested in separate sweeps by the authorities, the release said.

Members of the 88 Generation Students were at the forefront of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and were given lengthy prison terms after the rebellion was brutally suppressed by the military.

The arrests at midnight Tuesday came two days after the group led more than 400 people in a protest march through Yangon against the doubling of fuel prices on Aug. 15.

Those reportedly arrested included Min Ko Naing, one of Myanmar’s most prominent activists, Mya Aye, Pyone Cho and Yin Htun.

Three members of the Myanmar Development Committee, which had called for a nationwide protest against the sudden hikes, were also arrested along with five university students who were putting up posters demanding the reduction of prices on fuel and basic commodities.

Tunnel ‘will ensure’ KL is flood free

This was the assurance given by Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) director-general Datuk Paduka Keizrul Abdullah at a briefing on the result of a test of the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (Smart) system at its Motorway Control Centre yesterday.

The tunnel, which cost about RM2 billion and took four years to build, is having its first trial run.

"The flood test was a success. If the tunnel had been ready on June 10, the floods in Kuala Lumpur would not have happened," Keizrul said.

He explained that the June 10 flood was caused by an overflow of two million cubic metres of water from the Klang river.

"The tunnel plus its two storage reservoirs can take up to three million cubic metres of water."

The trial run, which started on Sunday, saw one million cubic metres of water poured and sealed into the three levels of the tunnel for 1½ days.

"It was 99.5 per cent perfect," Keizrul said. "We never doubted the ability of the tunnel and it was good to be able to finally prove it."

The trial run, which is expected to wrap up before Friday, included tests on the water flow to make sure that the floodgates were functioning and the tunnel was water tight.

Keizrul said there were two problems: One of the 260 surveillance cameras in the tunnel was not functioning and water was seeping through one of the emergency escape doors. He added that these were minor problems.

Keizrul said an additional basin capable of holding four million cubic metres of water would be completed in Kampung Batu by the end of this month and another basin capable of containing two million cubic metres of water would be built near the Jinjang river by year end.

Upon completion, the tunnel would be able to divert nine million cubic metres of flood water

Tell the truth to the public, that this tunnel will not help to reduce !!!

Ministry wants manufacturers to cut sugar content

PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry wants carbonated drink manufacturers to reduce the sugar content in their drinks from 15gm to 5gm per bottle.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said there had been discussions with multinational and local food and beverage manufacturing companies, and “initially, an agreement was reached by all parties”.

“The ones we are having problems with now are the beverage manufacturers.

“We want the drinks to not have more than 5gm of sugar, they only want to reduce it to 9.5gm,” he told the press at the launch of the books Fruitastic!, Fruitastic! Malaysia, and Vegemania! here yesterday.

He added that the ministry set up a technical committee earlier this year to go through the contents of food and beverages in Malaysia with the aim of reducing sugar, salt and fat content.

“We want to have a label called ‘Healthier Choice Food and Drinks’.

“If these companies don’t agree, we will drop drinks from the list of food considered as the healthier choice,” he said, adding he would meet them for the last time next week.

Dr Chua explained that the beverage manufacturers were reluctant to reduce sugar content as Malaysians have “a sweet tooth”.

“They are worried that if the sugar content is reduced too drastically, Malaysians may not want to drink carbonated drinks anymore.”

He also said that the average Malaysian consumed 125gm of sugar a day, when only 50gm was needed.

He said a survey conducted in 1996 found only 11% of Malaysians exercised and 20% of them were overweight, but a survey conducted in 2004 found that while 13% exercised and 37% of the population was overweight.

“If we are not careful, this will translate into a rise in diseases such as hypertension, high cholesterol levels and diabetes,” he said.

On the books authored by Mohana Gill, Dr Chua said the timing of the launch was “excellent”, as it was in line with the Government’s health promotion.

In her three books, Mohana describes the benefits of various fruits and vegetables, and also shares her personal recipes using these ingredients.

Good move so far from the health ministry.... keep up the good effort

JPJ to take immediate action against bus drivers

PUTRAJAYA: The Road Transport Department (JPJ) has been told by the Transport Minister to take immediate action against bus drivers whose licences have been suspended.

Ops Bersih for bus drivers, which was supposed to start next Monday, was brought forward following the latest bus express accident in Kelantan on Tuesday.

The operation at 15 locations nationwide, which would go on until Aug 30, would see suspended bus drivers having their licences yanked on the spot.

The Malaysa government and the JPJ all eat rice and do shit work. Why? Because they have all these F^%&ing operation go to people house to lokap them for road saman but then these all bus company can just slipped away like for 5 years ? My god. my allah, you sure you guys teach the right thing?

信徒沒錢給,收帳員上門

標福品借阿窿繳款

（吉隆坡21日訊）中元節盂蘭胜會投標熱潮，一些信徒雖然成功標得福品，事后卻無法繳交鉅款，結果遭到廟祝把其相片當成「通緝犯」滿街張貼，甚至一些還聘請收帳員上門收債，有者被逼向大耳窿借貸還錢！

華人傳統節日的盂蘭胜會于每年的農曆7月開始舉行，以祭拜「好兄弟」，同時幾乎大多的胜會都設有投標活動，當中的「福品」包括神像及一些祭品，許多信徒為了保佑家人平安及升官發財，都會趁機把心頭的福品標到手，價格由現場喊價較高的信徒所得，有者價錢可高達數萬令吉至10萬令吉不等。

然而， 卻有許多信徒在投標現場為了威風，結果標了福品后卻有心無力，無法繳交投標錢數，導致胜會預算超支，結果一些廟祝為了追回債數，除了在神廟範圍貼上欠債信徒的照片，還聘請收帳員上門向信徒追債。

馬華公共服務及投訴組主任拿督張天賜指出，信徒拖欠福品的事件幾乎在每年的多場胜會頻頻可見，他每年都可接獲勝會籌委會及廟祝的投訴電話，指遭到信徒拖欠福品外，他們原本是以收回的投標錢來交付胜會的活動，但因信徒「走數」，結果讓預算超支。

向大耳窿借錢還債

他表示，籌委會負責人曾向他解釋，為了讓胜會更為熱鬧，他們必須準備很多的活動，包括唱大戲、電影、聘請歌星駐唱，甚至元寶蠟燭都是一大筆數目，一般需要超過10萬令吉的花費。

他說，去年共有3名信徒向該組投訴，他們指原本一心希望把心頭的神像帶回家膜拜，以獲得神靈保佑，從中發橫財，但最后他們非但無法如願，反而欠下了一筆鉅款。

「這3名信徒共欠下約6萬令吉，當中有兩名信徒遭到非法收帳員上門追數，另一名信徒則指不堪被追債，只好向大耳窿借錢還債，結果陷入無底洞。」

國內事務部副部長拿督陳財和呼籲信徒，如果沒有能力繳付投標價錢，勿輕易投標喊價。 陳財和同時也是馬華宗教局主任，他是于昨日出席沙登嶺第四區第二屆中元節盂蘭胜會時，通過拿督張天賜做出這項宣布，因為他每年出席各區的盂蘭胜會時，都會接獲籌委會的投訴。

匪徒入屋打劫 惡匪摑黃燕燕丈夫

（文德甲21日訊）馬華婦女組全國主席拿督黃燕燕位于文德甲的老家，週二清晨遭2名分別持有手鎗及小刀的匪徒潛入，她的丈夫鄭子舒遭匪徒挾持威脅時，藉詞到轎車取鎖匙而逃出屋外高聲喊叫，將匪徒嚇到落荒而逃。

鄭子舒（63歲，兒科專科醫生）雖然成功保住財物，但他的左邊臉頰在混亂中，被匪徒摑了一把掌，眼鏡也掉落地上而破裂。

黃燕燕在案發時並沒有在家，屋內只有其丈夫及一名女傭。這起案件于今日早上7時4 5分，發生在李增花園，李增花園位于文德甲新村附近。沒搶走任何財物 淡馬魯警區主任阿末法茲拉助理總監受詢時說，警方相信兩名匪徒是從后門潛入，他們年約30歲，警方目前正追查他們的下落。

他表示，黃燕燕的丈夫被匪徒打了一巴掌，但並沒有搶走任何財物。

他說， 警方是于今日早上9時，接獲黃燕燕丈夫的報案，警方也正在尋找一輛銀色的將相轎車，車牌相信是偽造。

據了解，匪徒威脅黃燕燕丈夫交出財物及保險箱鎖匙時，他機警的指保險箱鎖匙留在車上，假裝到車上取鎖匙時，跑出家門外向鄰居求救。

匪徒見行跡敗露，馬上乘坐一輛停在屋外的銀色將相轎車逃走。鄭子舒的陳姓鄰居說，他在案發時看到匪徒入屋行劫，聽到鄭醫生告訴匪徒：「你們要錢就拿去，不要傷害我。」

一般相信，匪徒先爬上屋后的一棵大樹，再由樹上爬入鄭子舒住家，警方在門外發現匪徒留下的鞋子。

Could it be that the guy just want to warn Yen Yen ? all the police also stupid one

提款被劫走1萬 經理召警捕3匪

（吉隆坡21日訊）巨港黨捲土重來！4名巫裔男子趁一名華裔經理提款步出銀行后以巴冷刀要脅，搶走1萬令吉現金后逃走，豈料卻被巡警發現，警匪經過一番追逐后，3人落網1逃脫。

事發時，34歲受害者從銀行提出2萬令吉后，為了避免被搶走鉅款，于是他分別將現金放在口袋內，豈料，當他離開銀行步出大廈時，突然來了3名皮膚黝黑（30余歲）的巫裔男子，手持巴冷刀威脅他交出身上的財物。

冼都副警區主任再奴丁警監指出，匪徒經過一番搜索后，成功搶走受害者身上其中1萬令吉，趕快乘著同黨所駕駛的黑色豐田VIOS逃之夭夭。

幹案前或吸毒壯膽

他披露，受害者被搶劫后，當下向公眾求救，剛巧一輛巡邏車經過，巡警接獲投報后立刻追上匪徒，同時也致電向行動室要求增援。「警方另外派出3輛警車追擊嫌犯的下落，並且成功在5分鐘后發現賊車行蹤，4輛警車因而前后包抄賊車。」

不過，他說，3名嫌犯為了避免被捕而迅速棄車逃走，充當司機的嫌犯因來不及逃走而成功落網。無論如何，警方在事發附近的空屋內發現其中2名嫌犯，當場束手就擒，另一名嫌犯不知所終。

這宗搶劫案于今午1時5 0分許，在文良港特拉帶美華花園發生。再奴丁在下午召開記者會時，向傳媒敘述整個事發經過。他表示，經調查發現，豐田VIOS賊車是一輛失車，而匪徒是利用偽造車牌，以模糊警方的視線。他透露，警方在車內發現巴冷刀、一些偽造車牌及冰毒，不排除匪徒在幹案前曾吸毒壯膽。

他指出，由于巨港黨成員專門在銀行外等候，直到鎖定目標后才動手打搶，因此警方相信此案與巨港黨有關。事發后，現場謠傳有警員在追匪的過程中受傷，不過，再奴丁卻否認這項說法。

Global stocks rally, but not out the woods

World stock markets roared higher Monday after last week's slump, but analysts warned of further turmoil for share prices owing to lingering concerns about borrowers' failure to repay US home loans.

The London and Paris main indices jumped by around 1.0 percent in morning trade after Tokyo's market closed up 3.0 percent. Wall Street, which enjoyed sharp gains on Friday, reopens at 1330 GMT.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Monday that the worst of the US mortgage crisis was over even if some US investment houses and funds could still be in trouble.
Despite strong rises for global stocks on Monday, market players stressed the need for caution.

"There's little to suggest that the rampant volatility we've seen of late is yet behind us," CMC Markets trader Adam Neal said.

"Some will be eyeing the significant sell-off as a buying opportunity, whilst the prospect of further credit market problems cannot be overlooked."

In late morning trade London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares stood 0.97 percent higher at 6,123.00 points. The Paris CAC 40 grew 1.04 percent to 5,419.32 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.32 percent to 7,401.04.

European and US equities had risen sharply on Friday after the US Federal Reserve had eased global economic fears by slashing one of its key interest rates.

London's FTSE 100 closed up 3.50 percent ahead of the weekend, after the British index had Thursday plunged by 4.10 percent -- the biggest fall since March 12, 2003 in the run-up to the US-led war on Iraq.

World stock markets had been tumbling since August 9, as concerns mounted over the economic fallout from the weak subprime, or high-risk, home loan market in the United States.

"There is potential for the markets to remain volatile over the next few weeks as investors eye whether or not the central banks across Europe will cut interest rates," said Mark Priest, head of equity sales at Tradindex.

The US Federal Reserve on Friday cut the rate it charges commercial banks to 5.75 percent, saying that it wanted to restore order in financial markets that were hit by "increased uncertainty."

The move raised expectations that the Fed may also lower its key federal funds rate -- the overnight rate banks charge each other -- which has been left unchanged at 5.25 percent since June 2006.

Finance Minister Lagarde meanwhile told French radio on Monday "that the worst of the crisis is behind us."

Earlier in Asian trading, Tokyo saw its biggest single-day points rise since June 2006, recouping more than half of Friday's 5.42 percent plunge. Shanghai leapt 5.33 percent to a record closing high.

"What happened in the markets last week was of cataclysmic proportions," said Mark Cutis, chief investment officer at Japan's Shinsei Bank.

He said that, although Japanese equities looked cheap, last week's sell-off was only "a prelude to what's going to happen."

"We're expecting to see a much more vicious sell-off in October," he added, predicting that the Fed would probably cut its main interest rate in response.

Investors, however, appeared optimistic, chasing shares higher across Asia, eager not to miss a recovery after recent heavy losses.

Hong Kong closed up a huge 5.9 percent, Seoul won 5.7 percent and Sydney jumped 4.6.

"While the US credit market crisis may not disappear overnight, the Fed's (rate) decision ... has demonstrated their will to act and help reduce the uncertainty and volatility in the event that credit markets deteriorate further," DBS Vickers Securities of Singapore wrote in a note to clients.

"This should calm equity markets and end the indiscriminate selling," it said.

‘I don’t know why they killed him’

KULIM: The grieving widow of Padang Serai MCA Youth vice-chairman Chin Eng Wah who was shot dead on Friday still does not know why anyone would want to kill her husband.
"I don’t know why they killed him," said Low Mooi Keow, 40, at her Taman Damai house in Padang Serai here yesterday.

"Was it revenge or was it for some other reason?"

"I have never been involved in my husband’s business dealings."

Chin was killed just several hundred metres from their home.
He was shot dead at point-blank range when he stopped his silver-coloured Mercedes Benz at the Padang Serai-Lunas junction.

"It happened so suddenly. Two men on a motorcycle came alongside our car on the driver’s side.

"The pillion rider drew a gun and fired at my husband.

"I could not do anything.

"I got out and screamed for help."

Low’s brother and a relative rushed him to the Metro Hospital in Sungai Petani where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Padang Serai MCA Youth division chairman Dr Chin Tung Luing said he was shocked over the killing of his deputy.

"I have lost a helpful friend and a party member," he added.

Several national and state MCA leaders are expected to pay their last respects today.

Chin’s funeral is expected to be held on Tuesday but family members have yet to decide on the burial ground.

Police meanwhile said they had yet to make an arrest.

Pray hard the cops will work endless to get the bad guys...

China battered by typhoon Sepat

Typhoon Sepat has swept along the southern coast of China, killing at least 15 people and forcing nearly one million to leave their homes for safer areas.

Thirteen of the deaths were caused by a tornado that spun off the typhoon, wrecking houses and injuring more than 60 residents in Zhejiang Province, Xinhua state news agency said on Sunday.

"The bizarre wind smashed all the windows of our four-storey building and tore down my mum's old house in no more than one minute," Zhang Zhongling, a 48-year-old villager, was quoted as saying.

The typhoon hit mainland China packing winds of 119km per hour and unleashing torrential rains.

Typhoon Sepat has brought heavy downpours to southeastern China after officials had relocated people to safer areas.

In southeastern Fujian province, two people were confirmed dead and another reported missing after flooding and mudslides were triggered.
Sepat is heading northwest toward Jiangxi Province and could unleash 400mm of rain in Fujian in the next three days, Xinhua said.

Somali clan elder shot dead

A Somali clan leader and key player in efforts to bring reconciliation to the country's warring factions has been assassinated in Mogadishu.

Maalim Harun Maalim Yusuf was shot twice in the head by three men armed with pistols outside his house on Saturday, according to Madina Guled Mahamed, his wife.

"One of the bullets penetrated through his head," she said. "He was shot as he knocked on the gate. We don't know why they killed him, he was a delegate at the peace talks."

He was a negotiator for a sub-clan of the Abgal clan at a government-backed reconciliation summit that began last month.

Yusuf was from the same sub-clan as Ali Mohamed Gedi, the Somali prime minister.

Delegates at the talks said he had been playing a crucial role.

"Maalim Yusuf was a peace-loving elder. We will badly miss him. His death will negatively impact the talks," Abdirahman Ahmed, one of the delegates, told Reuters. "This is a big blow to peace."

All safe after fire guts airliner

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- A Taiwanese jetliner burst into flames Monday morning shortly after landing at the Naha airport on the Japanese island of Okinawa, but 165 passengers and crew got off the plane safely, authorities said The Japanese Transport Ministry and the Naha Fire Department said the passengers included 155 adults and two toddlers.

The crew was made up of 2 pilots and six flight attendants. According to the ministry, there was "some sort of explosion" on board the China Airlines Boeing 737, but no other details were immediate available. Japanese media reported that a passenger saw a fire in one of the engines before the blast. The Transport Ministry said the plane arrived in Okinawa from Taipei at 10:31 a.m. local time and stopped on the tarmac three minutes later to evacuate passengers.

At 10:35 a.m., the fire department was called to the scene. This incident is the latest in a series of accidents involving China Airlines. Jetliners for the air carrier crashed in 2002, 1999, 1998 and 1994, killing more than 1,000 people

Miners' families blast officials, saying, 'We have not lost hope'

HUNTINGTON, Utah (CNN) -- Families of the trapped six miners accused those in charge of rescue effort of having "given up" on the missing men.

In a statement read by a spokesman, the families urged the Utah mine's owner and federal officials to drill a hole into the mine large enough to send down a rescue capsule.

"Precious time is being squandered here, and we do not have time to spare," the spokesman, Sonny Olsen. He was flanked by dozens of relatives Sunday.

The families expressed their sorrow for the three men who were killed in a rescue effort Thursday. But they said they still held out hope "that our loved ones are still alive and are waiting to be rescued."

Bears eat man at beer festival

BELGRADE, Serbia (Reuters) -- A 23-year old Serb was found dead and half-eaten in the bear cage of Belgrade Zoo at the weekend during the annual beer festival.

The man was found naked, with his clothes lying intact inside the cage. Two adult bears, Masha and Misha, had dragged the body to their feeding corner and reacted angrily when keepers tried to recover it.

"There's a good chance he was drunk or drugged. Only an idiot would jump into the bear cage," zoo director Vuk Bojovic told Reuters.

Local media reported that police found several mobile phones inside the cage, as well as bricks, stones and beer cans

Jenna Bush gets engaged

Jenna Bush, President and Laura Bush's daughter, is engaged, the White House said Thursday.

Jenna Bush, 25, is marrying Henry Hager, 28, a former White House aide who used to work with Karl Rove.

His father, John Hager, is the chairman of the Virginia Republican Party.

"President and Mrs. George W. Bush are happy to announce the engagement of their daughter, Jenna Bush, to Mr. Henry Hager, son of the Honorable and Mrs. John H. Hager of Richmond, Virginia," press secretary Sally McDonough said in a statement.

Hager proposed in Maine on Wednesday, according to the first lady's office. He is returning to the University of Virginia in the fall, where he is getting his master's degree in business. He went to Wake Forest University for his undergraduate studies, The Associated Press reported.

Jenna Bush earned an English degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004. She taught at a Washington elementary school for a year and half and worked in Latin America as an intern for UNICEF, AP reported.

She is launching a book tour this fall to promote "Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope," about a 17-year-old Latin American girl living with HIV-AIDS.

Congratulations

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Student must face the law, Cabinet, however, accepts his apology

PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet has accepted the apology by student Wee Meng Chee, who caused a furore with his Negaraku rap video clip on video-sharing web portal YouTube, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

However, the Prime Minister said the law would still have to take its course.

Wee, 24, could be charged under the National Anthem Act 1968 with disrespecting and lowering the prestige of the Negaraku, he said.

Abdullah said a Minister had brought up the matter during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

“He (Wee) said he wants to apologise, we can accept. But if it is an offence, how to let him go without him being punished? The law has to take its course,” he said during a press conference on the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business here yesterday.

Wee’s six-minute video of a Mandarin rap number using the Negaraku as background created an uproar, with several quarters condemning him for mocking the national anthem and making offensive statements.

The 24-year-old mass communications student at Ming Chuan University in Taiwan had on Tuesday apologised for the parody In Kuala Lumpur, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the Cabinet was not in the position to forgive Wee, LOH FOON FONG reports.

Nazri said “the offence was not against the Prime Minister or Ministers concerned but against the nation.”

”If he had committed an offence, and I think it was an offence, then we must allow the Attorney-General to investigate and decide whether to take him to court,” said Nazri.

“To not prosecute him is not ‘on’ at all because he has committed an offence against the nation and no one, not the Cabinet or political parties, are in a position to forgive him.”

Wee could be charged under the Sedition Act because he had insulted the symbol of the nation, he said.

“We cannot be like the West where you can have the underwear with the design of the Union Jack. In Britain, you can insult the Queen or the flag, I don’t care, but in this country we have laws and we cannot set a precedent whereby you commit an offence, apologise and get away with it,” Nazri said, adding that Wee was not a boy but a 24-year-old man and he should be held responsible for the act.

“It is not about ethnicity or being racial but it is against national interest,” he said.

When asked how Wee had insulted the national anthem, Nazri said the song was supposed to be sung in a proper way, otherwise it would mean insulting the song, especially when the lyrics were changed.

“Malaysia Negaraku ku. Ku ku can also mean ‘cuckoo’, so it was insulting. I don’t think this was done out of ignorance. He was a university student and he meant to insult the national anthem,” he said.

On whether Wee would be called home to answer charges against him, Nazri said the A-G would have to investigate and if he decides to prosecute him, then when Wee returns, he would have to face the charges.

The Minister also said that he wanted action to be taken against YouTube and other bloggers who allowed sensitive material which went against the laws of Malaysia to be published.

Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim concurred with Nazri, saying that the country was governed by the rule of law and Wee had to abide by it.

You have millions of road offence by every Friday noon, and you call them law abiding citizen?

Rescue workers killed at Utah mine

HUNTINGTON, Utah - A disastrous cave-in Thursday night killed two rescue workers and injured at least seven others who were trying to tunnel through rubble to reach six trapped miners, authorities said. Mining officials were considering whether to suspend the rescue effort.

It was a shocking setback on the 11th day of the effort to find miners who have been confined at least 1,500 feet below ground at the Crandall Canyon mine. It's unknown if the six are alive or dead.

A real tragedy for all the efforts.... but to save lives, certain sacrifices is required.

Student rapper apologises

PETALING JAYA: Student Wee Meng Chee, 24, who caused a furore here with his Negaraku rap video clip on YouTube, has apologised for the parody and will remove the video clip from his blog.

“It has taught me a lesson about the spirit of nationalism and race relations. As a Malaysian, I did not intend to shame the country or ridicule any religion.

“To end the controversy, I will remove the video clip from my blog and I hope other bloggers will stop distributing the video clip,” said the mass communications student at Ming Chuan University in Taiwan.

Meng Chee said he also did not have any intention of creating anti-government sentiments or fan racism by writing the song as he was loyal to the King and the country where he was raised, gained knowledge and given the freedom to develop his talent.

He said he wanted to return and contribute to the country.

“I am proud to be a Malaysian and my loyalty to my country has not wavered even though I’m now studying in Taiwan,” he said.

Meng Chee, from Muar, posted a six-minute video of a Mandarin rap number using the Negaraku as background and promptly came under fire for mocking the national anthem and making statements many found offensive.

MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek spoke to him yesterday on the phone for about 30 minutes in the presence of the boy’s father Wee Ann Hee.

“Meng Chee thought that using Negaraku (as background) was apt as it was the 50th anniversary of our independence,” he told reporters in Putrajaya, adding that Meng Chee was naive and did not realise it was a mistake at that time.

Dr Chua, who is also Johor MCA chairman, said the MCA had accepted his apology and urged all Malaysians to accept Meng Chee’s apology in good faith too.

He added that Meng Chee had already taken out his video from the Internet but other people had downloaded it and sent it out again.

“If we come down hard on every young man, there is no room for any creativity and innovativeness in this country.

“There should be room for dissent but this dissent must be within the confines of the country’s Constitution.

“He is a creative and naive young man who has not even finished his tertiary education; we cannot pass harsh judgements; he asked for forgiveness and we should be open-hearted,” he said.

The senior Wee, 47, who is a former singer and a judge in singing competitions, expressed his gratitude to MCA for addressing the issue.

Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin urged Malaysians to accept Meng Chee’s apology.

“He is still young. We should not be too hard on him but he should learn from this, particularly in handling sensitive issues,” he said, commending MCA on the way the party handled the issue.

Zainuddin hoped the people would not continue to harp on the matter as Meng Chee had already apologised.

I dont see why Meng Chee has to apologized as he is telling the truth, that is why is true, siapa makan cili siapa rasa pedas..... hooray .... Malaysia....just cant love you more. ..

U.S. judge presses $54 mln suit over pants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge appealed his $54 million lawsuit on Tuesday against the dry-cleaning shop that misplaced his trousers, shrugging off legal setbacks and international ridicule.

Judge Roy Pearson filed a notice of appeal with the District of Columbia Superior Court, indicating that he won't abandon the crusade that has turned him into a symbol of America's lawsuit-happy legal culture. Pearson asked his neighborhood dry cleaners to pay him $1,150 when they misplaced a pair of trousers he brought in for a $10.50 alteration in May 2005. The owners of Custom Cleaners said they located the garment a few days later, but Pearson said the pair they offered him was not his.

Claiming that the shop's "satisfaction guaranteed" sign misled customers who, like him, were dissatisfied with their experience, Pearson sought $1,500 for every day that Custom Cleaners displayed the sign over a four-year period, multiplied by the three members of the Chung family, who owned the business.

He also sought $15,000 to rent a car to take his clothes to another cleaner for 10 years. The judge hearing the case ruled in June that Pearson did not interpret the sign in a reasonable fashion. A sympathetic public donated enough money to pay the Chung's legal fees, estimated at around $85,000.

Pearson, meanwhile, could lose his job as an administrative judge for the District of Columbia, where he hears disputes involving the decisions of city government agencies.

The city has warned Pearson it might not reappoint him when his job comes up for review next month, according to The Washington Post.

Pearson was not immediately available for comment.

DAP has yet to decide

PENANG: The DAP has yet to decide on the seat allocation for the next general election but has already identified potential new candidates.

Its national chairman Karpal Singh confirmed yesterday that blogger Jeff Ooi would be one of the candidates.

He declined to say whether Ooi would be standing in the Klang Valley or Penang but did not rule out the possibility that it would be an urban seat.

He said the central executive committee would discuss the seats based on the list of names recommended by state party leaders.

DAP need not to decide because they had already won the votes before the election because of the lame BN folks !... Hooray DAP

Brothers, uncle to be charged with student's murder

KUALA LUMPUR: Three brothers and their uncle are expected to be charged on Friday with the Aug 2 murder of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) student Tang Lai Meng, 20.

Kajang OCPD Asst Comm Rosli Mohd Nizam said with the arrests, police have solved the case as they have gathered enough evidence against the four. The uncle, who was the prime suspect, was caught in an apartment unit in Bukit Jalil at 3pm on Saturday following a tip-off.

ACP Rosli said police obtained a six-day remand order on the 36-year-old man on Sunday.

The man also led police to the recovery of the Toyota Vios belonging to the victim, from a parking lot in Taman Angsana in Cheras, not far away from Bandar Mahkota Cheras where she was murdered.

“The car could not be driven as the vehicle was immobilised by its security system. We also recovered from the suspect, a laptop computer and a handphone that belonged to the victim,” ACP Rosli said.

It is learnt that the man was convicted for a drug offence and had been placed under restricted residence in Temerloh, Pahang, but escaped and stayed with his nephews. On Thursday, police detained the three brothers, aged 15, 18 and 30, at their home in Bandar Mahkota Cheras.

They were said to be neighbours to the victim.

Following the arrests, police launched a manhunt for their uncle who had gone into hiding upon hearing the news that his nephews had been caught. Tang, from Menglembu, Perak, was found dead in the master bedroom of her rented double-storey house. A post-mortem revealed that Tang, a first-year business administration student, had died of suffocation and was repeatedly raped by her assailants.


If the government dont put them down, I believe some one will....

MCA seeking to calm uproar over music video

IPOH: The MCA plans to speak to the family of the Malaysian university student Wee Meng Chee who drew flak recently for his rap version of Negaraku in a music video.

MCA secretary-general Datuk Ong Ka Chuan said he had asked party leaders in Muar to speak with Wee’s father about the significance of the video. Wee, who had posted his self-made video on the video-sharing site YouTube, came under fire by politicians for mocking the national anthem and making statements many found offensive.

However, Ong stressed on Saturday that the party would not tell the family if Wee had been right or wrong to make the video.

“We just want to ask them to be careful and explain things so that the issue does not escalate,” he told reporters after the Perak MCA Youth convention here.

Ong said “what was done, was done” and that the important thing now was to resolve the matter.

“If anyone had been offended (by the video), we must clarify that it was not intentional. He (Wee) is a young man after all,” he added.

It was reported that Wee, a 24-year-old mass communications student at Ming Chuan University in Taiwan, had insisted that he was patriotic and did not mean to offend anyone. He said he wrote the song in conjunction with Malaysia’s 50th anniversary of independence as a gift to his country.

His father, in an interview with Sin Chew Daily, defended his son’s patriotism as the student had insisted on taking along the Jalur Gemilang when he left for Taiwan to study.

In Muar, DAP Youth chief Nga Kor Ming has invited Wee to join the party, saying that it did not find his "rapping" of the national anthem an insult.

He said Wee was “very creative”, adding that the party could use his talent.

RICHARD BRANSON

RICHARD BRANSON of the Virgin empire is moving in on Malaysia.

In a world exclusive interview with The Star at his breathtakingly beautiful private paradise Necker Island, Branson talks about his close ties with AirAsia's Datuk Tony Fernandes.

Branson also explains why he is buying a 20% stake in FAX, the operator of Air Asia X, the country's first low-cost, long-haul airline.

PUTRAJAYA: It is not appropriate to bake cakes with the Jalur Gemilang design on them. According to the Prime Minister's Department's ceremonial division and international conference secretariat, it is not proper to make cakes with the national flag design on them but it has now become a practice by many people.

"Some people think that it is all right to bake cakes with the national flag design on them, but actually, it is inappropriate because later, they will be cut and eaten. The gesture is not appropriate," a spokesman from the secretariat said today.

The secretariat said while Malaysians were encouraged to show patriotism in the run-up to the country's 50th Merdeka Day celebrations by displaying the Jalur Gemilang in a creative manner, they must bear in mind that the dignity of the national flag must be maintained.

"Don't display the national flag in a manner that is deemed degrading. For instance, it is not proper for you to display it as a bikini, swimsuit, towel, wash clothes, or use it as a tablecloth and cushion or toilet seat covers," he said.

It is all right to wear the national flag as clothes, hats as long as there are no elements of disrespect for it. Action can be taken against those who display the Jalur Gemilang in a disrespectful manner under Section 3 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1963. If found guilty of being disrespectful to the national flag, the person can be fined up to RM1,000.

So far, action has not been taken against anyone because the Government does not intend to punish but instead wants to encourage patriotism and civic-mindedness among Malaysians. Currently, the secretariat writes to companies found to be displaying the national flag inappropriately, advising them to rectify the error.

Many people are still making the common mistake of displaying the Jalur Gemilang on buildings vertically. The national flag should be displayed horizontally while the Malaysian banner vertically, said the secretariat spokesman. There are also those who display a huge national flag, which is supposed to be used on buildings, on their cars or too many small flags on the roof of their cars, compromising their safety.

Individuals or companies who want to display the Jalur Gemilang in a creative manner but have doubts about whether it is appropriate can contact the secretariat at (03) 8888-1957. Malaysians are also advised to refer to the circular posted on the Information Ministry's website at www.penerangan.gov.my to find out about the right way to display the national flag.

I love my country, but if you guys want me to put on some respect when using the flag, I think its time for you guys to show us some respect !

Free milk scheme suspended

PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry’s decision to suspend the school milk aid scheme nationwide yesterday came too late for 38 students in Penang.

The Year Five students of SK Kuala Muda in Penaga were given milk by the school yesterday and soon after they began vomiting and complained of stomach cramp and diarrhoea.

They were taken to the district government clinic for treatment. A Health Department spokesman at the clinic believed the cause was food poisoning.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Hon Choon Kim announced yesterday that the milk programme for all schools would be suspended until suppliers could guarantee that the milk is safe for consumption.

“The suppliers have to sign a letter stating that the milk is safe for consumption. We will resume (the programme) if they are brave enough to say they have checked all milk in schools and declare it safe,” he said.

The ministry had on Tuesday suspended the milk programme in Kedah and Kelantan after 117 students in two schools in the states became ill from drinking milk.

Now that the students would no longer be getting milk, the ministry would look into providing the students alternative sources of nutrients and calcium, Hon said after co-chairing a meeting with Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad which was attended by school milk suppliers and factory producers.

Hon said the onus would be on suppliers to ensure that the milk was properly stored in schools.

The milk programme was first discontinued on May 22 after 35% of milk supplies to Penang, Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Pahang and Terengganu was found to be contaminated.

It was revived on July 16 following a government directive that the milk would have to be tested by Sirim to ensure it was bacteria-free

Even school kids milk you all also want to curi makan ? Wake up la you all b&b*

Ministry to check if rapper Wee in Taiwan on govt loan

PUTRAJAYA: The Internal Security Ministry said it would check with the Higher Education Ministry whether Wee Meng Chee, who rapped to the Negaraku in a videoclip, is studying in Taiwan on a scholarship or government loan.

The ministry's secretary-general Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said he had already spoken with his counterpart at the Higher Education Ministry for information on Wee.

"He went to Taiwan to study and not to write songs. But we will let the ministry study his status first before contemplating any kind of action against him or deciding if he will have to come back.

"If we find there is any element of crime or sedition in his song, we will move in," he told reporters after attending a seminar on important targets at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here today.

Abdul Aziz said he had not personally watched the video which could be found at the free video portal YouTube.

Wee, a 24-year-old mass communications student at Ming Chuan University in Taiwan, had insisted that he was being patriotic when he was singing the song in the six-minute videoclip.

hooray good way to tell the truths !

Florida parent sues Mattel over toy after recall

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Florida parent sued Mattel Inc and its Fisher-Price Inc unit over a toy after the company recalled some 1.5 million units this month due to concerns about their lead paint content, according to a court filing.

The plaintiff, Farrah Shoukry, is seeking a refund for toys and money for diagnostic tests for lead poisoning, according to the suit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Friday.

Fisher-Price recalled the preschool toys on Aug. 1 because their surface paint could contain excessive amounts of lead.

The company said the toys, including preschool favorites such as Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street characters, were manufactured by a contractor in China.

Lead has been linked to health problems in children, including brain damage.

Shoukry, who bought one of the recalled toys for her daughter, wants class action status for the lawsuit, according to the complaint.

A Mattel spokeswoman could not be reached immediately for comment.

The recall was Mattel's largest since 1998 when it recalled some 10 million Power Wheels vehicles, made by Fisher-Price.

It was the latest in a deluge of product safety scares that have tainted the "made-in-China" brand.

It is important for people to understand that we all will not take any sub standard product just because you can produce them cheaply !

TAIPING: One of the country's worst road accidents, which occurred in the wee hours of yesterday on the North-South Expressway near here, was a disaster waiting to happen.

The driver had 13 traffic summonses - some still outstanding - and two warrants of arrest against him while the 20-year-old bus, which also had 19 summonses, did not even have the permit to ply the route.

The passengers of the bus, bound for Alor Star from Malacca, never stood a chance against such a poor record - 19 of them were killed along with the 37- year-old driver. Nine others including a three-yearold boy are in hospital, some in critical condition.

The bus company has been ordered to cease operations immediately.

This is what happen when the JPJ keep on drinking KOPI and also the MATA

Commission to ink voters in next general election

PUTRAJAYA: Voters will have their left forefinger applied with indelible ink in the next general election to prevent fraud.

Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the “archaic” method would be used to satisfy some quarters that claimed fraud had taken place.

“This is merely to stop certain quarters from using the issue as a political gimmick or to tarnish the image of the commission,” he told reporters here yesterday.

The black ink from India, which would cost less than RM1mil to implement, can stay on the finger for about a month.

It is not applicable to postal voters.

Abdul Rashid said no amendments would be made to the law in using the ink, which is a pilot project, as it could be incorporated as a procedure.

Explaining the process of using the ink, he said, the first election clerk would verify the voter's identification.

The second clerk would then apply the ink on the voter's finger before the third clerk hands over the ballot paper.

“Those who do not have fingers would have the ink applied on the stump instead,” he said, hoping that women would not use nail polish when voting.

Among the alleged fraud were phantom voters using identity cards of the deceased whose name was still on the electoral roll; impersonation by using another person’s identity card; and voting twice at two different places by registering using the eight-digit and 12-digit identity cards respectively.

Abdul Rashid thanked the National Fatwa Council for responding quickly to EC’s application to study the implications of the indelible ink on Muslims.

He said a circular would be out soon to explain the indelible ink to political parties.

Abdul Rashid said that only one of the 22,433 voters registered under the eight-digit identity card whose names were displayed by the EC last month had come forward to verify the status.

The Treasury, he said, had allocated RM3.6mil for the EC to trace the remaining 22,432 based on the locality they first registered as voters.

The exercise, he said, would take about a month from September to complete and names that could not be traced would be struck off the roll.

He said the electoral roll now stood at 10,322,956.

Brilliant idea from a chicken brain ! How can the guys from suruhan be so stupid?

Workers rescue 69 from flooded China mine

BEIJING - Chinese workers on Wednesday pulled out 69 coal miners who had been trapped in a flooded shaft for more than three days, state media said, an unusual rescue in the world’s deadliest mines.

The 69 were trapped — uninjured — when the state-owned Zhijian mine in Henan province’s Shan County flooded early Sunday. Thirty-three miners managed to escape.

The trapped miners were pulled out alive midday Wednesday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It said the first miner was met by an applauding crowd. Most of the miners were unable to walk unassisted and some were placed on stretchers.

Mining is not a fun thing, it is always one of the most dangerous work in the world, but in China it just like another dishes..... bad for China Image

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Russia plants flag on Arctic floor

Story Highlights

• A Russian sub plants the country's flag on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean
• The mission aims to symbolically claim the region, believed to be rich in oil
• The second submersible is expected to reach the seabed soon

MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) -- Russian explorers have dived deep below the North Pole in a submersible and planted their national flag on the seabed to stake a symbolic claim to the energy riches of the Arctic.

A mechanical arm on Thursday dropped a specially made, rust-proof titanium flag painted with the Russian tricolor on to the Arctic seabed at a depth of 4,261 meters (13,980 feet).

"It was so lovely down there," Itar-Tass news agency quoted expedition leader Artur Chilingarov as saying as he emerged from one of two submersibles that made the dive.

"If a hundred or a thousand years from now someone goes down to where we were, they will see the Russian flag," said Chilingarov, 67, a top pro-Kremlin member of parliament.

In memories of ....

Ministry warns petrol stations

KUALA LUMPUR: The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry has giving a stern warning to the Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) to not close their petrol stations at 10pm.

Its minister Datuk Shafie Apdal said such a move by PDAM would jeopardise the country’s economy. PDAM must get approvals from the Government to close petrol stations earlier, he said during a seminar on Consumerism and Wise-Spending for Women 2007 yesterday.

“They have no right to make any decision without consultation with the Government,” he said.

He said while it was possible to close certain stations early in some places, other stations would have to operate 24 hours a day, especially those along highways where lorries transport goods at night.

“If there is a security issue, we can allow the station to close earlier but we have to see which areas. If closing a petrol station affects consumers, security has to be improved. We have negotiated with certain oil companies and dealers in the past that in some places where there is hardly any traffic, they are allowed to close earlier,” he said.

He was commenting on the decision by PDAM that the 3,200 petrol stations nationwide would open at 7am and close at 10pm, with or without the approval of the Government. Shafie also said that dealers should not pass on the credit card cost to consumers because the consumers were already paying for credit card use. However, PDAM vice-president Datuk Zulkifli Mokti said the operating hours of petrol stations depended solely on business opportunity. Pan Malaysian Lorry Owners Association president Er Sui See said closing the petrol stations at 10pm would only drive up transportation costs.

He said the move would result in longer journeys and difficulty in meeting delivery deadlines.
Federal Territory and Selangor Taxi Operators Association president Datuk Aslah Abdullah said the move would result in taxi drivers feeling a strong pinch on their income

A lot of measurmenet is needed to take into consideration for the petrol folks, but closing it down earlier means nothing at all. I would really suggest free trade of petrol will make the cue.... many will not agree but at the bottom line, subsidy method will only pinch us harder at the end of the line....

commented by Jeffayn , come and visit me at jeffayn.com ..... ...

Sex romps when parents are away

FIVE schoolgirls and several boys held no-holds-barred sex romps when their parents were not at home, Harian Metro reported.

The girls, aged 13 to 17, allegedly gave their bodies willingly to the boys, who grouped under the names “Geng Apache,” “Pangkah Shell” and “Budak Shell,” the tabloid said.

The boys favoured these girls from three schools in Putrajaya over others because they are said to be promiscuous and need not be “forced” into having sex.

Sources told the paper that the girls were so daring that they carried out their exploits at either their or the boys' homes after school and when the parents were not at home.

However, their illicit activities were exposed after 25 schoolboys were caught smoking and sniffing glue in two houses at Precincts 9 and 11, Putrajaya.

Several of the boys confessed that they had had sex with the girls over the past few months without any of their families knowing about it.

Sources said no action had so far been taken against either the boys or the girls, because no police report has been made.

> Kosmo! reported that an umbrella spoke pierced the scalp of a young boy who had just turned seven on Wednesday.

Mohd Ikmal Daniel Md Islam was warded at the Taiping Hospital, where the 40cm spoke was removed after two operations.

His brother, Sufian Sawari Sulaiman, 19, said the boy came home crying after a quarrel with a Form One boy near their house at Kampung Larut Tin on Sunday.

“My father tried to pull out the spoke, but there was still about 12cm of the rod stuck in his head. We realised it was a serious injury and rushed him to the hospital,” said Sufian, adding that he later went round the village to find the culprit.

He later lodged a police report.

After Mohd Ikmal was admitted, a student came to see the boy and admitted that he had used the spoke on the Year One pupil.

We have bigger problems than manners nowadays to teach the kids. Its far more harder task now days because more and more parents will have to work harder to get more money, just enough to satisfy the general consumption only...

Kuching South mayor Chong passes away

KUCHING: Kuching South mayor Chong Ted Tsiung, 51, passed away Friday morning at a private hospital here after a short illness.

He had been in the job for less than year, having been sworn into office on Sept 25 last year. The first civil servant to be appointed mayor in Kuching South, he was previously controller of the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board.

His body has been taken home for people to pay their last respects.

May your soul rest in peace....

Driver who survived bridge collapse: 'I can't believe I'm alive'

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- Drivers who were on the Minneapolis bridge when it collapsed told harrowing tales of survival.

"The whole bridge from one side of the Mississippi to the other just completely gave way, fell all the way down," survivor Gary Babineau told CNN. "I probably had a 30-, 35-foot free fall. And there's cars in the water, there's cars on fire. The whole bridge is down."
He said his back was injured but he determined he could move around.

"I realized there was a school bus right next to me, and me and a couple of other guys went over and started lifting the kids off the bridge. They were yelling, screaming, bleeding. I think there were some broken bones." At home when he heard about the disaster, Dr. John Hink, an emergency room physician, jumped into his car and rushed to the scene in 15 minutes.

He arrived at the south side of the bridge, stood on the riverbank and saw dozens of people lying dazed on an expansive deck.

They were in the middle of the Mississippi River, which was churning fast, and he had no way of getting to them. He went to the north side, where there was easier access to people. Ambulances were also having a hard time driving down to the river to get closer to the scene.

Working feverishly, volunteers, EMTs and other officials managed to get 55 people into ambulances in less than two hours. Occasionally, a pickup truck with a medic inside would drive to get an injured person and bring him back up even ground, Hink told CNN.

God bless America....