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Pakatan agrees to join electoral reform committee
M'sia extends condolences to India, Nepal over quake tragedy
Sodomy II: Foreign expert agrees three swabs had 'Male Y' DNA

Pakatan agrees to join electoral reform committee

Posted: 21 Sep 2011 08:16 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat has finally agreed to join the Parliamentary Select Committee entrusted to improve the election process in the country.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the three opposition representatives in the committee would be jointly named by PAS, PKR and DAP.

Prior to this, several opposition leaders were reported to have made various excuses concerning their participation in the committee, including questioning the composition of its members, which they described as unfair.

PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali was reported as saying that the Opposition would not join the committee if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak did not fully fulfill their demands.

At a press conference here Wednesday, Anwar said the decision made by the Pakatan leadership council to join the committee was aimed at ensuring that their representatives would be able to voice out their demands to have not only a clean election, but also thorough electoral reforms.

He said, however, that Pakatan had yet to receive any official information about the formation of the committee which would be tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting scheduled to begin on Oct 3.

On Aug 15, Najib announced the formation of committee in a bid to improve the election process and to strengthen the laws and regulations governing elections in the country.

The committee, which will be chaired by a Cabinet minister, will comprise five Barisan Nasional members, three opposition members and one independent member. - Bernama

M'sia extends condolences to India, Nepal over quake tragedy

Posted: 21 Sep 2011 05:59 AM PDT

Published: Wednesday September 21, 2011 MYT 8:59:00 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has conveyed its heartfelt condolences to the Indian and Nepal governments and their people following the tragic earthquake that have rocked both countries' borders last Sunday.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost their lives in this disaster," said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman in a statement issued here Wednesday.

Anifah said although no Malaysians were affected in the tragedy, the Malaysian High Commission in New Delhi and Malaysian Embassy in Kathmandu were closely monitoring the situation.

Sunday's quake, which occurred around 6.10pm local time at 60km west of Gangtok, Sikkim, near the Nepal and India border with depth about 19.7km, has so far claimed about 98 lives. - Bernama

Sodomy II: Foreign expert agrees three swabs had 'Male Y' DNA

Posted: 21 Sep 2011 05:54 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: A foreign chemist agreed that "Male Y" DNA appeared in all three sample swabs taken from complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's anus, the High Court here heard Wednesday.

Australian chemist Dr Brian McDonald said he did not deny that all loci from two high rectal and one low rectal swab taken from Mohd Saiful's anus matched the DNA profile of "Male Y".

(Loci, the plural of locus, is the specific location of a gene or DNA sequence on a chromosome.)

At the end of the prosecution's case in the ongoing sodomy trial of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, it was established that "Male Y" matched the DNA of the Opposition leader.

The fourth defence witness was being cross-examined by Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden.

Earlier, Dr McDonald denied telling the court that prosecution witness Dr Seah Lay Hong in her testimony previously said there were no degradation on all the samples.

Mohd Yusof insisted that Dr McDonald had said that.

He then extensively referred Dr Mcdonald to the notes of proceedings where Dr Seah had in various instances indicated the degradation.

"Dr Seah had said there was a degradation but it was not sufficient to destroy the DNA. The DNA was still readable," Mohd Yusof said.

Dr McDonald replied that the level of degradation of samples was different for the ones taken from the anus and from the pants.

Mohd Yusof also grilled Dr McDonald on the accreditation of the Chemistry department's DNA lab. He said that the DNA lab in the department was accredited under the American Society of Crime Laboratory Director (ASCLD) under its legacy program when the test was carried out in 2008.

This contradicted what Dr McDonald had previously told the court, that the DNA lab was not properly accredited as it was not up to international standards.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Rabu, 21 September 2011