Selasa, 15 Januari 2013

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates


Japan's Abe turns to South East Asia to counter China

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 07:58 PM PST

TOKYO/JAKARTA (Reuters) - The last time he was prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe's inaugural foreign trip was to China. In the job again 7 years later and relations with Beijing now chilly, Abe is turning first this time to the rising economic stars of Southeast Asia.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during a news conference at his official residence in Tokyo January 11, 2013. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during a news conference at his official residence in Tokyo January 11, 2013. REUTERS/Issei Kato

A hawkish Abe wants them to help counterbalance the growing economic and military might of China at a time when Japan needs new sources of growth for its languishing economy and is debating whether to make its own military more muscular.

But experts warn he will have to tread carefully during his visit to Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam this week to avoid provoking Beijing by appearing to "contain" China.

Beijing is also scouring the region in search of new investment and trade opportunities and sources of raw materials. But it is also clashing with countries in the region over territorial rows in the South China Sea, as well as with Japan over tiny isles in the East China Sea.

Moreover, Abe may find his hosts keen to avoid upsetting China, now their major economic partner as well.

"The Japanese government is trying to solidify its relations with other countries in the region and strengthen its bargaining power before talking to China," said Narushige Michishita, an associate professor at the National Graduate Institute.

Abe had hoped to go first to Washington this time after his Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) big win at the polls last month, in order to bolster the security alliance with his country's main ally. But because U.S. President Barack Obama was too busy, he will start with members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Japanese firms are already eyeing Southeast Asia as an alternative to investment in China after a long-simmering feud with Beijing over disputed islands in the East China Sea flared up last year, sparking protests in China and hurting trade.

Abe has made clear that ASEAN's planned integration in 2015, creating a bloc with combined economies worth $2 trillion (1.2 trillion pounds) and a population of 600 million, is a significant lure for a Japanese economy that has been trapped in deflation for decades and whose population is ageing fast and shrinking.

He also says, however, that he wants to go beyond mere economic ties and expand relations in the security field. He is expected to give a policy speech in Jakarta.

SHARED VALUES

In an echo of the push for a broader Asian "arc of freedom and prosperity" that underpinned Abe's foreign policy during his first term in office - which ended when he quit abruptly - the Japanese leader is also likely to refer to his desire for deeper ties with countries that share democratic and other values.

"Japan's path since the end of World War Two has been to firmly protect democracy and basic human rights and stress the rule of law," Abe told NHK public TV on Sunday. "I want to emphasise the importance of strengthening ties with countries that share such values."

One issue that could come up is a maritime "Code of Conduct" that the United States has urged China and its Southeast Asian neighbours to agree on as a step toward reducing tensions.

"Japan should play a more significant, responsible role not only for the prosperity but also stability in this part of the world, especially in its waters," said Kunihiko Miyake, a former diplomat close to Abe.

"Possibly we could work together with Southeast Asia in a possible broad, extended Code of Conduct in the waters to avoid unnecessary and unintended friction or disputes, "said Miyake, now research director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies.

Abe has said repeatedly that he wants to improve ties with Beijing despite his tough stand over the islands dispute. But some warn his rhetoric could been seen as trying to box in China, provoking Beijing and worrying Southeast Asian countries whose economies are increasingly linked to China's.

"What is the point of making an enemy of China?," said Hitoshi Tanaka, a former diplomat who is now chairman of the Institute for International Strategy in Tokyo. "It is not smart diplomacy in my view and the last thing the nations named as targets of 'values diplomacy' would welcome."

ECONOMY FIRST

Abe will need to reassure his hosts that he will not let the islands row with China get out of hand despite his hawkish security stance and his desire to revise Japan's take on its wartime history with a less apologetic tone.

"Prime Minister Abe might be seen as revisionist but this should not influence the dispute as all countries in the region would rather focus on economic development than see this conflict deteriorate," said Damrong Kraikuan, director-general of the Thai foreign ministry's East Asia Affairs Department.

"But the South China Sea will not be the highlight of his visit to Bangkok," he added. "Thailand will take note of what Japan has to say and we will listen, but we have to take other countries into consideration to make progress."

Japan's remains a huge economic influence in ASEAN. It is the group's biggest source of foreign direct investment, after the European Union and almost three times the size of China's.

"Japan is concerned about losing out to China in trade and investment," said Jayant Menon, lead economist at the Asian Development Bank's Office for Regional Economic Integration. "(The visit) sends an important message."

In Vietnam, Japan pledged investments of $4.9 billion in the first 10 months of last year, nearly double the whole of 2011. In Thailand, from January-September, foreign investment almost tripled to around $8.1 billion.

In the group's biggest economy, Indonesia, net direct investment last year looked to be heading for a record amount.

And Japan was ASEAN's second biggest trading partner in 2011, just behind China, according to the group's figures.

Abe's young government has already been pushing hard to improve relations in the region. He sent his foreign minister last week to Brunei, Singapore, Australia and the Philippines. Manila, for one, has welcomed signs of Japan's willingness to play a bigger regional security role.

Nevertheless, Abe will have to tread carefully on the topic of Japan's wartime aggression, which remains a sensitive issue.

His government has said it would stick by a landmark 1995 apology for Japan's wartime aggression.

But Abe also wants to issue a statement of his own and has expressed interest in revisiting a 1993 government statement apologising for military involvement in kidnapping Asian women to work in wartime military brothels.

"Everyone knows that if the new government were to change the basic line then Japan will be isolated in East Asia because China, Korea and even Southeast Asia will make lots of issues out of a change in interpretation (of the past)," Tanaka said.

(Additional reporting by Amy Lefevre in Bangkok, Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo and Rieka Rahadiana in Jakarta; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Copyright © 2013 Reuters

Two dead, one wounded in shooting at Kentucky college

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 07:45 PM PST

LOUISVILLE, Ky (Reuters) - Two people were killed and a third wounded when gunfire broke out in the parking lot of a community college in the eastern Kentucky mountains, authorities said.

Two people were being held, including the alleged shooter who opened fire with a semiautomatic pistol on Tuesday afternoon at the Hazard Community and Technical College, about 90 miles (145 kms) southeast of Lexington, police said.

Hazard Police Chief Minor Allen told a news conference initial indications were that the shooting was a result of a domestic conflict and there were no signs anyone involved had any connections with the college.

The United States is still on edge about gun violence a month after a lone gunman killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school in a rampage that stunned the nation and has fuelled a heated national debate over gun control.

Police described the dead in Hazard as a man in his 50s and a woman in her 20s to early 30s. A female in her teens was injured and taken to the University of Kentucky hospital in Lexington. The identities of the victims and those taken into custody were not being released, police said.

The college president, Steve Griner, told reporters that activities and classes for the school's 4,700 students were being cancelled on Wednesday because of the investigation.

The campus was placed under a security lockdown after the shooting, which was lifted later. Police searched campus buildings to ensure everyone was safe.

In a separate shooting in St. Louis, Missouri, a student armed with a pistol opened fire at a downtown college before turning the gun on himself. A school employee struck by gunfire in that shooting was expected to survive, as was the armed student, police said.

(Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman.; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Christopher Wilson)

Copyright © 2013 Reuters

Japanese airlines ground Boeing 787s after emergency landing

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 07:01 PM PST

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's two leading airlines grounded their fleets of Boeing 787s on Wednesday after one of the Dreamliner passenger jets made an emergency landing, heightening safety concerns over a plane many see as the future of commercial aviation.

An All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 787 Dreamliner is seen after making an emergency landing at Takamatsu airport in western Japan January 16, 2013, in this photo taken by Kyodo. REUTERS/Kyodo

An All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 787 Dreamliner is seen after making an emergency landing at Takamatsu airport in western Japan January 16, 2013, in this photo taken by Kyodo. REUTERS/Kyodo

All Nippon Airways Co said it was grounding all 17 of its 787s and Japan Airlines Co said it suspended all 787 flights scheduled for Wednesday. ANA said its planes could be back in the air as soon as Thursday once checks were completed. The two carriers operate around half of the 50 Dreamliners delivered by Boeing to date.

Wednesday's incident follows a series of mishaps for the new Dreamliner. The sophisticated plane, the world's first mainly carbon-composite airliner, has suffered fuel leaks, a battery fire, wiring problem, brake computer glitch and cracked cockpit window in recent days.

"I think you're nearing the tipping point where they need to regard this as a serious crisis," said Richard Aboulafia, a senior analyst with the Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia. "This is going to change people's perception of the aircraft if they don't act quickly."

The 787 represented a leap in the way planes are designed and built, but the project was plagued by cost overruns and years of delays. Some have suggested Boeing's rush to get planes built after those delays resulted in the recent problems, a charge the company strenuously denies.

Both the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said they were monitoring the latest Dreamliner incident as part of a comprehensive review of the aircraft announced late last week.

ALARM TRIGGERED

ANA flight 692 left Yamaguchi Airport in western Japan shortly after 8 a.m. local time (11:00 p.m. British time Tuesday) bound for Haneda Airport near Tokyo, a 65-minute flight. About 18 minutes into the flight, at 30,000 feet, the plane began a descent. It descended to 20,000 feet in about four minutes and made an emergency landing 16 minutes later, according to flight-tracking website Flightaware.com.

A spokesman for Osaka airport authority said the plane landed in Takamatsu at 8:45 a.m. All 129 passengers and eight crew evacuated safely via the plane's inflatable chutes. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said 5 people were slightly injured.

At a news conference - where ANA's vice-president Osamu Shinobe bowed deeply in apology - the carrier said instruments on the flight indicated a battery error, triggering emergency warnings to the pilots. It said the battery in the forward cargo hold was the same type as one involved in a fire on another Dreamliner at a U.S. airport last week.

"There was a battery alert in the cockpit and there was an odd smell detected in the cockpit and cabin, and (the pilot) decided to make an emergency landing," Shinobe said.

Marc Birtel, a Boeing spokesman, told Reuters: "We've seen the reports, we're aware of the events and are working with our customer."

The Teal Group's Aboulafi said regulators could ground all 50 of the 787 planes now in service, while airlines may make the decision themselves. "They may want to protect their own brand images," he said.

UNDER REVIEW

Australia's Qantas Airways said its order for 15 Dreamliners remained on track, and its Jetstar subsidiary was due to take delivery of the first of the aircraft in the second half of this year. Qantas declined to comment further on the issues that have plagued the new lightweight, fuel-efficient aircraft.

India's aviation regulator said it was reviewing the Dreamliner's safety and would talk to parts makers, but had no plans to ground the planes. State-owned Air India has six of the aircraft in service and more on order.

"We are not having any problem with our Dreamliners. The problems we had earlier were fixed," Arun Mishra, Director General of Civil Aviation, told Reuters. "We are reviewing the situation now."

United Airlines, the only U.S. carrier currently flying the 787, said it was not taking any immediate action in response to the latest incident. "We are looking at what is happening with ANA and we will have more information tomorrow," a spokeswoman said.

Shares of Dreamliner suppliers in Japan came under pressure.

GS Yuasa Corp - which makes the plane's batteries - fell 4.5 percent, as did Toray Industries Inc, which supplies carbon fibre used in the plane's composites. Fuji Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and IHI slid 2.5-3 percent on a benchmark Nikkei that was 2 percent lower. ANA shares slipped 1 percent.

PUBLIC CONFIDENCE

Japan's transport minister on Tuesday acknowledged that passenger confidence in the Dreamliner was at stake, as both Japan and the United States have opened broad and open-ended investigations into the plane after the recent incidents.

The 787 is Boeing's first new jet in more than a decade, and the company's financial fortunes are largely tied to its success. The plane offers airlines unprecedented fuel economy, but the huge investment to develop it coupled with years of delay in delivery has caused headaches for customers, hurt Boeing financially and created a delivery bottleneck.

Boeing has said it will at least break even on the cost of building the 1,100 new 787s it expects to deliver over the next decade. Some analysts, however, say Boeing may never make money from the plane, given its enormous development cost.

Any additional cost from fixing problems discovered by the string of recent incidents would affect those forecasts, and could hit Boeing's bottom line more quickly if it has to stop delivering planes, analysts said.

To date it has sold close to 850 of the planes to airlines around the world.

(Additional reporting by Olivier Fabre, Kentaro Sugiyama, Mari Saito, Deborah Charles and Alwyn Scott; Writing by Ian Geoghegan; Editing by Paul Tait and Alex Richardson)


Related Stories:
Factbox - Recent safety incidents for Boeing's new 787

Copyright © 2013 Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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Oprah confirms Armstrong 'came clean' on doping

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 06:00 PM PST

WASHINGTON: Lance Armstrong "came clean" to Oprah Winfrey on his use of banned drugs, the talk show host said on Tuesday, as anticipation built for the telecast of her interview with the shamed cyclist.

Winfrey told "CBS This Morning" that her OWN cable network will broadcast the two-and-a-half-hour interview unedited over two nights from Thursday. Originally, a shorter broadcast was planned for one night only.

"I didn't get all the questions asked, but I think the most important questions and the answers that people around the world have been waiting to hear were answered," Winfrey said.

"I would say he did not come clean in the manner that I expected," she added. "It was surprising to me. I would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers."

But even before Armstrong's mea culpa had been seen, critics were questioning his choice of forum, saying an interview with Winfrey lacked the rigor of testimony under oath before anti-doping authorities.

"While WADA encourages all athletes to come clean about any doping activities they have been involved with or know about, these details must be passed on to the relevant anti-doping authorities," said David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The Swiss-based International Cycling Union also called for Armstrong to give evidence to its ongoing investigation into widespread doping in the sport it governs.

Legal analysts meanwhile said that the US government could potentially prosecute Armstrong for fraud related to his receiving government sponsorship while riding for the US Postal team from 1998-2004.

"Because he has now admitted he doped, that makes it a lot easier to prove a fraud claim," sports lawyer Brian Socolow told AFP.

The interview was Armstrong's first since he was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles after the US Anti-Doping Agency, in a 1,000-page report, put him at the heart of the greatest sports doping scandal in history.

For a decade, he had vigorously denied using banned substances to win his way into the history books after battling cancer.

Prior to sitting down with Winfrey on Monday in his hometown of Austin, Texas, the 41-year-old went to the offices of the Livestrong cancer charity he founded and apologized in person to its staff.

Livestrong spokeswoman Rae Bazzarre said Armstrong's apology was "sincere and heartfelt."

Asked if Armstrong had "come clean" to her, Winfrey said she and Armstrong had agreed at the outset not to talk about the content of the interview.

But a source with knowledge of the interview confirmed to AFP that the Texan admitted to Winfrey using banned substances in his career.

Winfrey, speaking from Chicago, said she was mystified as to how the content had leaked.

The 58-year-old star said she asked 112 questions in "the biggest interview I've ever done" and grilled Armstrong so intensely that, during a break at the 100-minute mark, Armstrong asked if their conversation might lighten up.

With a world-class scoop on her hands, Winfrey flew home to Chicago with the video tape in her handbag for fear it might be pirated or leaked if beamed back to the editing room via satellite.

Betsy Andreu, the wife of Armstrong's former teammate Frankie Andreu, has long claimed that she heard Armstrong admit to doping at a 1996 appointment with doctors treating his testicular cancer.

She told ESPN that she didn't know if she'd be able to watch the interview.

A TV confession now, Andreu said, could only be a first step if Armstrong is to repair his reputation in a meaningful way.

"If he really wants a second chance, then he's going to have to tell the truth of everything and stop protecting people, especially the people who helped him get away with it," she said. - AFP

Baffling babes

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:11 AM PST

Our bemused guest Spudnik takes a look at Hindi soap operas and wonders why he's so taken with them ... (Psst. It's the ladies.)

MY MUM often "credits" me with getting her hooked on wrestling shows because I used to get her to record WWE RAW way back when it was screened on Thursday evenings. Our VCR timer was wonky, so she would have to manually start the recording and, in the process, became interested in the exploits of Triple H, Chyna, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and her favourite heel, Vince McMahon.

Well, two can play at that game, Ma ... I'm partially hooked on Hindi soaps and it's all thanks to you.

My Mum started watching the shows on Zee Variasi (Astro Ch 108) some time in 2011. It was just one show at first, Sanskaar Laxmi, about a smart but guileless country girl who married into a wealthy family.

So, whenever I was home and had nothing much to do, I'd watch along to see how Laxmi coped with her loveless marriage, survived the scheming of her idiot husband and his evil aunt, and eventually fell in love with the wicked lady's son.

It was corny and predictable but its simple, smart and charming heroine won us over. Neither of us saw the ending coming – mainly because Zee TV cancelled Sanskaar Laxmi after only a 10-month run because of poor ratings, and wrapped up the storyline in a hurry.

By then Mum had also become interested in another series in the earlier time-slot, because she'd been catching the last few minutes of it before Sanskaar Laxmi. "It's got a wicked mother-in-law in it," she told me.

Heavenly match

So we started tuning in a little earlier to catch Ram Milaye Jodi (which means something like "match made in Heaven", I think), about the misadventures of a well-meaning but exremely kepoh girl named Mona and her clueless husband Anukalp. Eventually, the mother-in-law, Bharati, turned out not to be wicked so much as she was stern, and became quite supportive of silly Mona and her crazy schemes.

Alas, some missteps by the writers – among them, killing off Anukalp and introducing another love interest for Mona, which went completely against the show's "celestially betrothed" premise – saw the series come to a confusing and unsatisfying conclusion.

While waiting for Ram Milaye Jodi to start, we would catch the first few minutes of the show before it. And that one would interest us, too. And then the one before that. Our 8.30pm-9pm Hindi soap viewing slot grew and grew until it started at 6.30pm! (Which is kind of where Mum drew the line, because she didn't want to be hopelessly glued to Zee from 5pm.)

There was also Chotti Bahu (junior bride?) where the heroine was such a devout believer in Krishna that, when her jealous rival "murdered" her, he appeared on Earth to save his devotee's life at the last second and teach her would-be killer a lesson. Wow, how many US soaps can boast of having a god manifest on their show?

Here we go again

Lately, our viewing starts at 6.30pm with Punar Vivaah (remarriage), which is about this kind of unbalanced widower named Yash, who has two young daughters, who marries a "widow" named Aarti who has a young son.

I say "kind of unbalanced" because a long-running plotline had Yash getting extremely angry with his new wife for reasons that went undisclosed by the writers for weeks! (And these are daily Monday-to-Friday shows, okay.)

And all that time, Yash got angrier and angrier until he became almost catatonic. But, once he learned to deal with the source of his anger, he bounced back from his self-induced health problems and went on to defeat the district boxing champion, inspired by a vision of his dead wife after the champ beat him almost half to death. Honest! You can't make this stuff up ... unless you write for Zee, of course.

The big storyline brewing now is the manure-storm that's going to break when Yash finds out that Aarti is not a widow as she claimed, but a divorcee.

Somewhere in time

Next comes Pavita Rishtra. I think it means "pure relationship" but the show could also be called The Time Tunnel. It has time-jumped three times – first, the story took a four-year leap ahead; then 18 years (!); and lately (though we've yet to get those episodes), six months.

Pavitra Rishtra is about two honest and hardworking people, Manav and Archana, who meet and get married and then get split up by a truly wicked mother-in-law (Manav's mother), Savita. They meet again 18 years later when their children (and adopted children) have all grown up with soapy entanglements of their own, thereby allowing both Pavita Rishtra and Pavita Rishtra: The Next Generation to coexist in the same programme. How's that for economy?

Interestingly, while the show has jumped almost a quarter-century ahead from when it started, everyone still looks the same! And so do the cars, mobile phones, fashions, etc. Which all lends credence to my theory that this show is set in an alternate universe where the laws of nature are suspended and technology evolved at an accelerated pace before suddenly stagnating.

The ongoing story (for Malaysian viewers, about five months behind) has Manav and Archana on the verge of finalising their divorce after 18 years of separation. The sudden reappearance of the couple's long-lost son, thought dead all this time, will trigger events that will change everything. I'll keep watching this one whenever I can just to see Savita get her comeuppance.

Giddy girls are gold

After that comes a show I kind of like, Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke (the sweet dreams of adolescence), about a big-city girl named Gunjan who comes to live with her aunt and cousin Rachna in a small town after her mother passes away.

I like the way the two likeable leads have grown close after their initial difficulties in getting along, and the various story arcs and subplots have actually developed along less hysterical and preposterous lines than some of their compatriots on Zee. Please keep it that way, people.

Something that's killed many a Hindi soap for us is that, whenever the writers feel that they need to propel the story along a bit faster, they make someone in the cast behave completely out of character, or turn him/her into either a villain or a complete moron. It's early days yet for Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke, so we've got our fingers crossed.

It's very dark in here

Phir Subah Hogi comes on at 8pm, and my Mum likes this, but it is not my favourite one in the belt because ... it's so depressing!

It could well be Zee's most "socially conscious" series as it showcases the plight of a caste whose women who are treated as playthings by the rich upper caste in their district.

It depicted this situation rather well in the early episodes, but then came along its tale of forbidden love, with one of these girls falling for an older man from the "upper crust", and things soon got all tangled up.

This dude turned out to be a rotten sort, and the story takes a wilder turn when his nephew also falls in love with the girl.

Maybe I shouldn't strike this one off my list yet because things have started to get interesting, with Kritika Desai (Bharati from Ram Milaye Jodi) showing up as ... well, the clan matriarch here, too.

Good grief

This brings us to Hitler Didi (tyrannical sister) which started out showing us the struggles of Indira Sharma (the quite fetching Rati Pandey) as she sacrificed everything to support her mother, useless brother, man-crazy sister, constantly hungry sister-in-law, and loving nephew after her father Inder left the family for a younger woman.

After finding love and overcoming all kinds of soap-opera hardships (and a few variations on the theme), Indira ... died. Yes, the writers killed the heroine and then had the story take an eight-year leap forward.

Indira's rebellious young daughter runs away from home and is taken in by a policewoman in another city – a woman who is the spitting image of Indira! Only in the more recent episodes airing in India (major spoiler alert) it has been revealed that ... Indira is still alive!

She's regressed to eight years of age, mentally. I guess being cremated on a funeral pyre will do that to you (the writers will probably ignore that part of Indira's "death scene"). It also makes me wonder if the same thing happened to the writers when they were trying to come up with new plot twists. The regression, not the cremation.

Hitler Didi has unfortunately become so intolerably silly that we've dropped it from our viewing belt. Which means the TV is mine again after 8.30pm on weeknights! I kind of miss Rati, though. Hurry up and start making sense again, Hitler Didi!

Family fun

The Zee soaps (I've only covered half the lineup) do like to do one thing: every once in a while, the ongoing plot will come to a sudden stop to make way for a huge crossover episode with the principal cast of several other series dropping in.

It could be a wedding, an anniversary or birthday, an engagement or (in the case of Pavita Rishtra) everyone suddenly showing up at the airport and getting in each other's way. Sometimes, cameo appearances are done to promote upcoming shows. For example, in one episode of Pavita Rishtra, Rachna and Gunjan from Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke showed up to help out Manav and Archana's stranded daughters ... just to let viewers know that their show was starting up soon.

If there's one common theme in these shows it can be summed up as "the old and the dutiful" wherein the drama (and comedy) arises from the conflict between the very traditional elders and the dutiful younger generation who feel bound to please the old folks but want to do certain things their way too.

These Hindi soaps are fun at times, engrossing at others, annoying a bit too frequently. Ultimately, they are best taken in small doses because, to adapt the motto of a certain wall-crawling superhero, with great exposure comes great incredulity.

Tune in, or out

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:56 AM PST

Spoilers, over-played trailers and mindless entertainment – much of last week's TV offering was bland.

IT'S only mid-January yet so much has happened ... at least where local television is concerned. The long-awaited new seasons of Downton Abbey and Suits are finally on (Diva, Astro Ch 702), while a new MasterChef US (Star World, Astro Ch 711) winner was just crowned last Sunday.

Well, actually, that one's rather old news. Season three of MasterChef US ended in the United States in September, so if you regularly follow entertainment stories and updates, you would've probably known who won way back when. It's a bit of a downer since the biggest appeal of reality-based game shows like that is in not knowing who will win.

Spoilers like that are unavoidable, though, because of how fast and wide information is shared these days. The fact that some of these programmes are only screened in Malaysia many months after their original broadcast adds to that dilemma.

Thankfully, popular shows like American Idol – which kicks off this week on Star World and 8TV with season 12 – are more or less screened on the same day as in the United States. "Seasoned" fans would already know how to refrain from checking entertainment news feeds or websites until after they watch the show on local TV.

Speaking of American Idol, does anyone really still watch it? Can anybody even remember all 11 winners of American Idols past? Judging from last season's less-than-impressive viewer ratings, it appears the show is gettin' old.

The introduction of new judges Nicky Minaj, Mariah Carey and Keith Urban was supposed to make things more interesting but instead, based on the seemingly annoying promotional trailers featuring Minaj and Carey that were shown over and over again last week, American Idol is beginning to look a lot like a bore.

Two other reality-based shows that premiered recently were The Choice (Star World) and the new season (#11) of How Do I Look? (Diva) hosted by Jeannie Mai, the woman who randomly kept giving style and makeup advice on TV last year (segments which inspired one of 2012's frequently asked TV questions – who is Jeannie Mai?).

How Do I Look? is a show originally hosted by English soap star Finola Hughes that had been screened on Malaysian TV for quite some time, but never got much attention. Hughes' version was quite outdated; the set seemed to be something that was left behind from the 1980s.

However, the concept of the show was great: Each week, a "fashion victim" comes on the show with two of her (so far there hasn't been a male participant) friends or relatives. They are joined by a professional stylist who will then not only help the victim trash her old clothes, but give her a brand new wardrobe, too.

How Do I Look? now looks a lot snazzier with a new production set and slightly improved concept. Mai's hosting skills are also much better than Hughes'. It's a really fun show to watch, especially if the "victim" is someone with a fashion sense so wild, it borders on crazy!

Meanwhile, The Choice is a dating game that uses the same format as that other reality-based show, The Voice. In this show, instead of choosing the best singer, the "judges" – four single celebrities, usually male – pick their own teams of three possible dates. Out of these three choices, each celebrity must then choose one contestant they are most interested in going out with.

Based on the promotional trailers which were also played to death last week, the "celebrities" include restaurateur and TV chef Rocco DiSpirito, rapper Romeo, singer Joe Jonas, Jersey Shore's Pauly D and former American Idol winner Taylor Hicks. In one of the trailers, Hicks more or less says that he's a catch because he has a harmonica in his back pocket. Seriously? That's your game, Hicks?

The show premiered in the United States some time last year and there are only six episodes listed; there is no word on whether or not it has been cancelled, although there are petitions to stop it from continuing.

For something more inspiring, try and catch the programme Jump Shipp (8TV). The show was aired here in the middle of last year, but is currently on repeat transmission, right after Razif Hashim's entertaining second season of Best In The World (also a repeat).

Jump Shipp is hosted by Josh Shipp, an American teenage behaviour expert. Each week, a person is featured who is suffering from "quarter-life crisis" – whether it involves career, health, finance, personal life, or what-have-you.

Shipp helps the "guests" see what could happen if they took a different path by encouraging them to take risks, be more confident or to simply take that crucial first step in improving their lives. Last week's episode saw a woman who wanted to join the circus, but got stuck working at a casino in Las Vegas.

While we're on the subject of Las Vegas (well, kind of), is CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (AXN) still interesting? Tune in to the Season 13 premiere on Feb 6 and Tweet us what you think (@MyStarTwo).

Check out our TV Highlights page daily for these and other interesting programmes.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Sports

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The Star Online: Sports


Radwanska sizzles in Melbourne

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 06:07 PM PST

MELBOURNE: Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska stormed to her 11th straight win of the year at the Australian Open on Wednesday as the Pole built on her sizzling start to the season.

Radwanska won lead-up events to the opening Grand Slam of 2013 in Auckland and Sydney and has carried her red-hot form into Melbourne, completing a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu in 86 minutes.

She next faces either Kazak Ksenia Pervak or Britain's Heather Watson as she aims to improve on her three quarter-final appearances in Melbourne.

The world number four started slowly and was broken by Begu in her first service game before rattling off five games in a row to be 5-1. Begu rallied but lost the set in 46 minutes.

The Romanian, who has never gone further than the second round in eight Grand Slam appearances, needed a medical timeout ahead of the second set for a problem with her right shoulder, her service arm.

She returned to the court but was immediately broken by Radwanska, whose younger sister Urszula was knocked out of the tournament on Tuesday.

Begu dragged herself into the match by breaking back in the sixth game, only for the Pole to break her again and comfortably close out the showdown on Rod Laver Arena. - AFP

Oprah confirms Armstrong 'came clean' on doping

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 06:00 PM PST

WASHINGTON: Lance Armstrong "came clean" to Oprah Winfrey on his use of banned drugs, the talk show host said on Tuesday, as anticipation built for the telecast of her interview with the shamed cyclist.

Winfrey told "CBS This Morning" that her OWN cable network will broadcast the two-and-a-half-hour interview unedited over two nights from Thursday. Originally, a shorter broadcast was planned for one night only.

"I didn't get all the questions asked, but I think the most important questions and the answers that people around the world have been waiting to hear were answered," Winfrey said.

"I would say he did not come clean in the manner that I expected," she added. "It was surprising to me. I would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers."

But even before Armstrong's mea culpa had been seen, critics were questioning his choice of forum, saying an interview with Winfrey lacked the rigor of testimony under oath before anti-doping authorities.

"While WADA encourages all athletes to come clean about any doping activities they have been involved with or know about, these details must be passed on to the relevant anti-doping authorities," said David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The Swiss-based International Cycling Union also called for Armstrong to give evidence to its ongoing investigation into widespread doping in the sport it governs.

Legal analysts meanwhile said that the US government could potentially prosecute Armstrong for fraud related to his receiving government sponsorship while riding for the US Postal team from 1998-2004.

"Because he has now admitted he doped, that makes it a lot easier to prove a fraud claim," sports lawyer Brian Socolow told AFP.

The interview was Armstrong's first since he was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles after the US Anti-Doping Agency, in a 1,000-page report, put him at the heart of the greatest sports doping scandal in history.

For a decade, he had vigorously denied using banned substances to win his way into the history books after battling cancer.

Prior to sitting down with Winfrey on Monday in his hometown of Austin, Texas, the 41-year-old went to the offices of the Livestrong cancer charity he founded and apologized in person to its staff.

Livestrong spokeswoman Rae Bazzarre said Armstrong's apology was "sincere and heartfelt."

Asked if Armstrong had "come clean" to her, Winfrey said she and Armstrong had agreed at the outset not to talk about the content of the interview.

But a source with knowledge of the interview confirmed to AFP that the Texan admitted to Winfrey using banned substances in his career.

Winfrey, speaking from Chicago, said she was mystified as to how the content had leaked.

The 58-year-old star said she asked 112 questions in "the biggest interview I've ever done" and grilled Armstrong so intensely that, during a break at the 100-minute mark, Armstrong asked if their conversation might lighten up.

With a world-class scoop on her hands, Winfrey flew home to Chicago with the video tape in her handbag for fear it might be pirated or leaked if beamed back to the editing room via satellite.

Betsy Andreu, the wife of Armstrong's former teammate Frankie Andreu, has long claimed that she heard Armstrong admit to doping at a 1996 appointment with doctors treating his testicular cancer.

She told ESPN that she didn't know if she'd be able to watch the interview.

A TV confession now, Andreu said, could only be a first step if Armstrong is to repair his reputation in a meaningful way.

"If he really wants a second chance, then he's going to have to tell the truth of everything and stop protecting people, especially the people who helped him get away with it," she said. - AFP

Terranova breaks new ground for Argentina

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 06:06 PM PST

LA RIOJA, Argentina: Orlando Terranova delighted the home crowd here on Tuesday by becoming the first Argentinian driver to win a stage of the Dakar Rally.

The 33-year-old BMW driver - competing in his seventh Dakar Rally - came home 2min 07sec ahead of Monday's stage winner Nani Roma in a Mini and the latter's team-mate and defending champion Stephane Peterhansel was third another 12sec adrift.

Terranova was delighted with his victory and said that it had been a really smooth drive.

"We took the stage very easily, to not make a mistake because it was very narrow and it was possible to burst a tyre or break some piece of the car," he said.

"We want to continue like we have done. We are having a good race without mistakes."

Peterhansel, seeking his 11th win after six in the motorbike section and four in the cars category, extended his overall lead to 52min 38sec over South African Giniel de Villiers.

The 47-year-old Frenchman's chances of winning the title again grew immeasurably when closest rival, Qatar's 2011 champion Nasser al-Attiyah had to pull out of the race after suffering mechanical problems on Monday's stage.

Peterhansel admitted that he had vchanged his strategy now that Al-Attiyah had been forced out and conceded that it did not make for a great spectacle.

"For the race, for the show, it's no good, for the suspense, it's not really good, but for me it's not so bad and it's more comfortable," he said.

"I can manage the car as well.

"I can manage for example the stage tomorrow and the stage at Copiapo which will be really complicated in the dunes. So if I have more time I'll be able to manage the race, to wait to see the good places to cross the dunes, so it's better for me for sure."

Earlier defending champion Cyril Despres took the overall lead in this year's Dakar Rally on Tuesday after the 10th stage, a 636km ride including a 357km timed section from Cordoba to La Rioja.

The 38-year-old KTM rider had made his charge on Monday when, having been over 24 minutes off the pace, he stormed to his first stage victory of this year's edition and on Tuesday he showed he was the man in form in finishing second in the stage.

Spaniard Joan Barreda Bort took the stage honours on his Husqvarna bike, finishing 1min 15sec ahead of Despres.

Despres, seeking his fifth Dakar title, leads overnight leader and team-mate Ruben Faria by 1min 37sec in the overall standings in the race which finishes on Sunday.

Despres said he was in good form and that his tactics of not racing all out throughout the Rally was paying off as it entered its decisive stages.

"Picking up seconds in the general standings is not the most important thing," he said.

"What matters is making statements, making a difference, gaining in confidence and letting the racing do the talking. As a result, the general standings reflect that on paper in the evening." - AFP

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Singapore's casino regulator fines Marina Bay Sands, Resorts World at Sentosa S$230,000

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 06:41 PM PST

Published: Wednesday January 16, 2013 MYT 10:41:00 AM

KUALA LUMPUR: The Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore has imposed financial penalties totaling S$230,000 on Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd (MBS) and Resorts World at Sentosa Pte Ltd (RWS).

According to its website on Tuesday, MBS was fined S$130,000 and RWS S$100,000 for various breaches from November 2011 to April last year.

For MBS, the offences ranged from not preventing Singapore citizens and permanent residents from entering and/or remaining on its casino premises without valid entry levies.

It was also penalized for failing to prevent six excluded persons from entering and/or remaining on its casino premises.

MBS was also fined for not preventing a minor from entering and/or remaining on its casino premises.

The regulator said the penalties imposed on RWS were failure to prevent Singapore citizens and permanent residents from entering and/or remaining on its casino premises.

RWS was also penalized for failure to prevent three excluded persons from entering and/or remaining on its casino premises.

RWS was also fined for failing to prevent two minors from entering and/or remaining on its casino premises.

 

Malaysia's blue chips slip, heavyweights lead decliners

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 05:44 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's blue chips fell in early trade on Wednesday due to the mixed closing on Wall Street, with heavyweights Sime Darby, CIMB and Telekom Malaysia among the major decliners.

At 9.26am, the FBM KLCI was down 6.5 points to 1,679.39. Turnover was 210.29 million shares valued at RM66.48mil. There were 106 gainers, 110 losers and 183 counters unchanged.

Maybank KE Research expects a spell of price weakness to emerge. The KLCI's resistance level of 1,685 and 1,699 would cap market gains, whilst weaker support areas were located at 1,670 and 1,683.

"Due to the US markets' mixed tone, we expect the local index to be weaker and volatile today on liquidation activities," said the research house.

BAT was the top loser, down 40 sen to RM60.16. Among plantations, KL Kepong lost 16 sen to RM21.88 whie Sime Darby saw a surprising 14 sen decline to RM9.45.

CIMB lost seven sen to RM7.60 while TM shed six sen to RM5.68. Hong Leong Capital fell five sen to RM1.73, which was just two sen above the takeover price of RM1.71 by HLFG.

However, KrisAssets jumped 16.5 sen to 22.5 sen with 24.90 million shares after its cash distribution of RM2.60 for each share went ex on Wednesday. Its call warrants, KrisAssets-CB jumped 10.5 sen to 16.5 sen and it was the most active with 51.53 million units done.

Alam Maritim advanced three sen to 88.5 sen after it secured a RM576mil contract from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to provide six marine vessels.

 

Malaysians in high demand overseas

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 05:30 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are an in-demand lot overseas, according to Korn/Ferry International country head and managing director Reza Ghazali.

Speaking yesterday at the company's soft launch at its new KL office in the city centre, Malaysians, he noted, are known to be outstanding due to the nation's multi-faceted environment, which compels its people to be robust, flexible and ready workers in turn.

Korn/Ferry International recently entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Minneapolis-based PDI Ninth House, a leadership solutions provider that has been in business for nearly five decades.

"We can now bring our solution lines together. From our position as a search company, we are now partnering with companies to manage their business by tailoring leadership solutions that integrate assessment, skills development and coaching,"

Korn/Ferry Asia Pacific president Charles Tseng added: "In essence, we want to groom, and not just recruit. We are ready to offer international exposure to local talents, but the question is: Are these talents ready to leave? The ultimate objective is for them to grow and lead the local business when they return."

Several in-house surveys have indicated talent management as a key challenge that most companies face today, hinting at the longstanding issue of unstructured succession planning.

"CEO succession is one of the most significant business challenges for boards in Asia at the moment," Tseng said. "We see shifts that impact succession planning, such as those of family-run businesses moving to professional management, founders' handovers to successors, as well as government-linked companies benchmarking themselves against world-class companies."

The talent management firm's solutions are to align future CEO criteria with short- to long-term business strategy using research-based assessment tools to identify high potentials to deepen its pool of executive talent.

To help companies manage efficiency and effectiveness levels, internal and external talents are benchmarked against the same validated competency profiles.

These are some of the key exercises that Korn/Ferry prescribes.

"Our knowledge of local companies, their boards and CEOs, as well as our understanding of the Malaysian business context, help our clients nagivate this transition effectively. We are uniquely positioned to build on our global experience in this area and align our services to key trends impacting organisations in Malaysia," Reza said.

 

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Swimming upstream

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 12:23 AM PST

Her book was shortlisted for one of the English-speaking world's most prestigious literary awards. But for two years, she couldn't get a publisher interested in it.

BRITISH playwright Deborah Levy had a good year for prose in 2012. Swimming Home, her first novel in 15 years, was in the running for the Man Booker Prize, while Black Vodka, a short story written around the same time, was shortlisted for the noted BBC International Short Story Award.

"You wait 20 years to be shortlisted and then two come along in the same week," Levy, 53, says with a laugh from her home in north London.

While neither the novel Swimming Home nor the short story Black Vodka won first prize – Hilary Mantel took the £50,000 (RM243,451) Booker for her Tudor-era story Bring Up The Bodies and Miroslav Penkov the £15,000 (RM73,035) award for his tale, East Meets West – South African-born Levy says she is just thrilled by the exposure.

After all, it took her two years just to find a publisher for the Booker-shortlisted Swimming Home, a tight, chilling narrative about a holiday gone wrong. "The book was admired, but they felt it wouldn't prosper in a tough economy. I was devastated," she says.

The manuscript languished in limbo until independent outfit And Other Stories took a chance and printed it. The subscription-based publisher (readers pay between £20 and £50, or RM9 and RM243, to receive two to six books a year) first sent the book out to just over 100 subscribers.

After Swimming Home made it to the longlist last July, "sales increased tenfold", according to a spokesman for the publisher. When the short list was announced in September, e-book sales doubled again. "In a nutshell, Swimming Home sold more units in a fortnight than across 2011," the spokesman adds.

And Other Stories has since partnered with major publisher Faber & Faber to reprint the 158-page novel for markets overseas. It is also publishing a collection of Levy's short stories this year.

While hallucinogenic in parts, Swimming Home has a real-world origin. Levy is an avid swimmer and, on her way to the beach in Nice, France, several years ago, she encountered a naked young girl on a box of rotten plums. Attempts to help or intervene were rejected, so she found herself revisiting the experience in writing but giving it a different conclusion.

Almost the same scene appears in the middle of Swimming Home. Yet, unlike in real life, the elderly woman character forces the young girl to receive medical attention for her condition.

"The consequences of her intervention is what the book is about. One of the questions in the book is how do we live with madness, and what is sanity," says Levy.

Questions of identity and individuality have interested her for years, since she was nine. Transplanted from South Africa to Britain, she and her younger brother failed to fit into the schoolyard. They decided they had to lose their accents and watched sitcoms on TV to modify their speech patterns.

"It ignited my interest in how we constructed our cultural identities," she recalls. Her father, a historian and former political prisoner in apartheid South Africa, and her mother, a secretary, divorced when she was 15. She has two other siblings, a brother and a sister.

Levy gravitated towards theatre and studied in the Dartington College of Arts. She wrote plays for various drama troupes including the renowned Royal Shakespeare Company, most of which were about gender and feminism. In Pushing The Prince Into Denmark, written in the 1990s, she gave greater voice to two fictional female characters, Hamlet's mother Gertrude and his love interest Ophelia.

But the lack of control in theatre was disturbing. "The writer goes off and writes a script, the script is then interpreted by actors, director, sound guys – you're working together as a whole. I wanted to kind of be in more control and really get my hands on language."

So she turned to fiction. Her first novel, Beautiful Mutants, was published in 1986 and her most recent, before Swimming Home, was the 1996 Billy And The Girl, the story of two abandoned adolescents.

In between, she raised two children, daughters Sadie, 18 and Leila, 13, with her husband, playwright David Gale. She also wrote many short stories, including those collected in the 2004 compilation Pillow Talk In Europe And Other Places, and several plays for radio and theatre.

"There was a lot of writing in those years," says Levy. "This writing will now be seeing the light of day." – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network

Asia’s best

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 11:36 PM PST

The shortlist for the Man Asian Literary Prize is announced.

INDIAN author Jeet Thayil and Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng, who last clashed on the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize, are going head to head again after both authors made the final cut for the Man Asian Literary Prize; the shortlist of five novels was released on Wednesday.

Worth US$30,000 (RM90,864), the award goes to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, released in 2012.

Thayil and Tan lost the Booker in October 2012 to British author Hilary Mantel, who won for a record-breaking second time for Bring Up The Bodies, her second historical fiction novel in a trilogy about Tudor statesman Thomas Cromwell.

For this prize, the men face stiff competition from Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, selected for his novel Silent House, a "dark family saga set in a decrepit mansion at a Turkish seaside resort, on the eve of a military coup", according to journalist Maya Jaggi, chair of judges for the Man Asian literary prize.

This early work from Pamuk made the list despite being first published nearly three decades ago because it appeared in English for the first time in 2012. "This book written 30 years ago still spoke to us and spoke to some very present issues to do with the way individuals experience the drive for modernity and rapid urbanisation," Jaggi said at a press conference in Hong Kong via video link from London.

Thayil is shortlisted for his novel Narcopolis, set in the opium dens of old Bombay, and Tan for The Garden Of Evening Mists, which takes place during the aftermath of WWII and the Japanese occupation of Malaya.

The shortlist of five is rounded out by Japanese writer Hiromi Kawakami's The Briefcase, in which the "ambiguous relationship between an office worker nearing 40 and her former literature teacher, a retired widower, is traced with astonishing delicacy and humour", said Jaggi, and Between Clay And Dust by Pakistani author Musharraf Ali Farooqi, the story – and tragedy – of a champion wrestler.

"Farooqi's tale is more moving for the spareness and restraint with which it is told," said Jaggi, who is joined on the judging panel by award winning Vietnamese-American novelist Monique Truong and Indian writer Vikram Chandra.

She added that Thayil, Tan and Farooqi embodied "Asian writers of a new generation turning to the past in a different way – all younger writers who are looking not simply at the history of their own nations but regional history."

Executive director of the award, Prof David Parker added that, "Several of these writers have been celebrated in their own countries and recognised internationally, but never before have we viewed them collectively as Asian writers.

"The Man Asian literary prize is the only award that places Asian authors from across the whole breadth of the region side by side and gives readers a fresh perspective on the best fiction from our part (Asian) of the world."

The winner will be announced on March 14, with the winning translator, if there is one, to receive US$5,000 (RM15,131). Last year, the award was won by South Korean writer Kyung-sook Shin's Please Look After Mom, which has now sold two million copies worldwide.

Once this year's winner is announced, the prize's current sponsor, Britain-based international consultancy Man Group, will step aside (though it will continue to sponsor the Booker Prize). Spokesperson Harrison Kelly said the search for a new sponsor for the award was ongoing, but that the response has been "overwhelmingly positive".

"Since October we have been contacted by several Asian-based and global corporations about sponsoring the prize," said Kelly. "In fact we are currently in encouraging talks with potential partners. Of course these things take time and we are yet to finalise anything, but we are thrilled that so many people value the prize as much as we do and see sponsoring us as a unique opportunity to create a stronger presence throughout Asia." – Agencies

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Hazard and risk map to pinpoint dangerous slopes in KL

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 06:01 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has appointed the Public Works Institute of Malaysia (Ikram) to create a Hazard and Risk Map to pinpoint slopes that are dangerous in Kuala Lumpur as a precautionary measure.

Mayor Datuk Ahmad Phesal Talib said from this map, this will enable them to identify slopes that needs maintenance work.

"We will also consider to implement a method applied in Hong Kong where serial numbers will be given to each slope to ease the maintenance work and monitoring in future," he said after meeting with Bukit Setiawangsa residents who were affected by the land slide on Dec 28.

He added they will discuss the suggestion with the Minerals and Geoscience Department.

Ikram chief operating officer Mohd Taufik Harun said from the map, they will be able to prioritise which slopes need immediate attention and action before any untoward incidents.

"The map is expected to be completed in one and a half years time from this January," he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Phesal said the developer of the affected houses at Bukit Setiawangsa, I&P Group Sdn Bhd, has been instructed to come up with a new design for the affected slope by end of next month for the long term solution to the slope.

"We will also give a schedule for I&P to follow in conducting works on the slope to ensure it will not be dragged on.

"This will also allow the 58 families and shopkeepers who were evacuated can return to their homes and premise," he said, adding the short-term remedial works to the slope is expected to be completed by Jan 31.

He added the new design will determine how many houses on the hill will need to be demolished.

Ahmad Phesal said from the meeting between DBKL, Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin had meeting with Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, it has been decided that I&P will be held responsible for compensation to the affected residents and shopkeepers.

When asked on the amount of compensation, he said they would have to look into the matter first to determine the amount.

On Dec 28, residents of Bukit Setiawangsa were shocked when the land erosion causes most parts of a 43m concrete embankment in the area to collapse.

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Khairy's statements did not tarnish Anwar's reputation, court hears

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 05:51 AM PST

Published: Tuesday January 15, 2013 MYT 9:50:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday January 15, 2013 MYT 9:51:03 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here was told that Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's reputation was not jeorpadised by UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin's statements during a political speech in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, six years ago.

Khairy's lawyer, Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said Anwar's reputation had already been tarnished by the abuse of power charges brought against him in all levels of court and sodomy charges he faced earlier.

Hence, Shafee said his client will depend on these cases in the RM100mil defamation suit filed by Anwar against Khairy on September 2007.

He was responding to High Court Judge Datuk Su Geok Yiam's question as to whether those cases were relevant in this hearing.

Anwar claimed that Khairy, as UMNO Youth deputy chief at the time, had uttered defamatory statements about him at a political event in Kuala Kangsar on August 2007, which was later published in print and electronic media on Aug 3 of the same year.

Meanwhile, in response to Shafee's cross-examination, Anwar said the statement implicitly portrayed him (Anwar) as never having fought for the political interest of the Malays in the country.

The hearing resumes on Wednesday. - Bernama

IGP: Crime down to 153,309 cases last year from 157,629 in 2011

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 05:45 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Public confidence in the crime-prevention performance of the police is expected to increase as crime cases went down to 153,309 last year from 157,629 in 2011.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said the effort was part of the National Key Result Area (NKRA) programme of reducing crime, which saw a drop of 4,320 cases.

"Police have continued with actions to boost the force's image and gain public confidence," he said when presenting his paper entitled, 'Crime and Safety Issues - Between Perception and Reality', at the Tranformation of Security and Fundamental Rights and Legislation seminar.

Ismail said the police had adopted an effective approach by focusing on engaging citizens in crime-prevention programmes.

The reducing crime NKRA is among the six NKRAs, which are part of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) initiatives, announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on July 27, 2009.

The GTP initiative on reducing crime has, among other things, placed Malaysia one step ahead of the United States in terms of order and security, according to an assessment by the World Justice Project (WJP) 2011 Rule of Law Index.

The WJP Annual Report 2011 ranked Malaysia 12th among 66 countries covered under its assessment of order and security. - Bernama

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