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Selasa, 29 Oktober 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

Japan ruling-party panel to propose break-up of Fukushima operator - media

Posted:

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese ruling-party panel will recommend the break-up of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) after shortcomings in the firm's handling of clean-up operations at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, Japanese media said on Wednesday.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) panel is proposing that Tepco's divisions in charge of decommissioning four damaged reactors and treating contaminated water at the plant should be spun off, the Nikkei and Yomiuri newspapers reported.

Tepco has floundered for more than two and a half years in attempting to clear up the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

An earthquake and tsunami knocked out power and cooling at the plant in March 2011, leading to three reactor meltdowns and explosions that sent a huge plume of radiation into the air and sea, forcing 160,000 people to evacuate nearly townships.

Tepco has lost $27 billion since the disaster at the plant north of Tokyo and faces massive liabilities as it decommissions the facility, compensates evacuees and pays for decontamination of an area nearly the size of Connecticut.

Proposals endorsed by senior LDP members this week include complete financial separation of the Fukushima operations from the utility, or transforming them into an independent administrative agency, the Nikkei and Yomiuri said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised that the government will take primary responsibility for containing contaminated water at Fukushima, saying the situation is under control.

The clean-up process is expected to take at least 30 years and cost more than $100 billion.

After months of denials, Tepco confirmed in July that contaminated water from the coastal plant was flowing into the Pacific Ocean. It has also found that 300 tonnes of highly radioactive water leaked from one of hundreds of quickly built storage tanks and reported numerous other problems.

The government effectively nationalised Tepco last year with a taxpayer-funded rescue. But there has been heated debate over direct government involvement in the company and over whether to spin off the Fukushima clean-up and let the remainder of Tepco focus on generating electricity for the Tokyo area.

Tepco has said that it is not in a position to comment on its future structure. It is revising a business turnaround plan after falling behind on its financial targets. The company reports financial first-half earnings on Thursday.

(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick and Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

NTU to mark first anniversary of writer’s death

Posted:

TO MARK the first anniversary of the death of writer Han Suyin next month, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is launching a translation scholarship fund in her name and organising a forum on her contributions in the field of translation.

The two events by NTU's School of Humanities and Social Sciences in memory of the former Nanyang University (Nantah) lecturer will be held simultaneously at NTU's Chinese Heritage Centre in Jurong on Nov 16.

The China-born, Eurasian doctor-turned-writer died in Lausanne, Switzerland, aged 95.

Best known for her 1952 novel A Many Splendored Thing, she is remembered by many Nantah graduates as a leftist-leaning lecturer who supported the birth of Nantah in 1953.

Han, who wrote more than 40 books, was proficient in Chinese, English and French. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

A-G: We should act as whistle-blowers on dubious practices

Posted:

THERE is a growing consensus that lawyers should be gatekeepers who blow the whistle on dubious corporate practices, said Attorney-General Steven Chong.

Speaking at the three-day 26th LawAsia Conference at Suntec convention centre, he called for a "serious consideration" of the idea, explaining that courts and regulators, across various jurisdictions, are expecting more from lawyers now.

Clients may also be demanding more of their lawyers, he added.

He said that "the ground has already begun to shift".

Meanwhile, expectations have seemingly risen in Britain for market players such as hedge-fund bosses, and in Australia, for in-house counsel, said Chong.

In Singapore, professional advisers must be "diligent" in processing information from their clients and "proactive" in making further inquiries, added Chong.

He cited the censuring of OCBC Bank in 2008 by the Securities Industry Council, over its role in a botched takeover bid for company Jade Technologies.

The council found that the bank fell short of the standard expected of it under the Takeover Code as an adviser to the deal.

The bank had not verified independently the would-be buyer's finances, or its shareholding in Jade.

"Is there any legitimate reason why the category of such professional advisers should not encompass lawyers, in-house or otherwise?" asked Chong. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates

China suspects Tiananmen crash a suicide attack, sources say

Posted:

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities investigating what could be Beijing's first major suicide attack searched on Tuesday for two men from Muslim-dominated Xinjiang after three people suspected to be from the restive region drove an SUV into a crowd at Tiananmen Square and set it on fire.

They killed themselves and two tourists on Monday in the square, the heart of China's power structure and the focal point of the mass 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations brutally crushed the military.

Police have spread a dragnet across the capital, checking hotels and vehicles, seeking two people suspected to be ethnic Uighurs, a Muslim minority from Xinjiang in China's far west, on the borders of former Soviet Central Asia.

Two senior sources said on Tuesday the crash, which also injured 38 bystanders at perhaps the most closely guarded location in China, was suspected of being a suicide attack carried out by people from Xinjiang. It was initially believed to be an accident.

The sources did not specifically say the occupants were Uighurs, many of whom chafe at Chinese controls on their culture and religion.

"It looks like a pre-meditated suicide attack," said a source with direct knowledge of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions for talking to the foreign media.

There have been suicide bombings before in China, and in Beijing, mostly by people with personal grievances, but none have targeted the very heart of China's government like this appears to have.

China has blamed Uighur separatists and religious extremists for a series of attacks in Xinjiang, saying they want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan. Rights groups and exiles say China massively overstates the threat.

In 2009, nearly 200 people were killed in clashes between Uighurs and ethnic Chinese in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. But the unrest has never before spilled over into China's capital despite speculation in 1997 that Uighurs were to blame for a Beijing bus bomb that killed at least two people.

Uighurs are also not known to have previously carried out suicide attacks.

Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who is based in Washington, said in a statement that she was worried that Monday's crash would bring a fierce crackdown on her people.

Kadeer, who left China in 2005, heads an international Uighur exile organization called the World Uighur Congress, based in Germany. Her group urged calm and voiced concern that Chinese censorship would stop facts from coming out.

"The Chinese government will not hesitate to concoct a version of the incident in Beijing so as to further impose repressive measures on the Uighur people," she said.

Kadeer said China has used the international fight against terrorism launched after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States as a pretext for a crackdown on the Uighurs in Xinjiang.

"There is no sign we will see anything different this time, even though evidence of what really happened yesterday is thin on the ground," she said in the statement from Washington.

'NO ACCIDENT'

China's government has given no official word on whether the incident was an accident or an attack. State media has mostly kept to reporting brief statements from the police and official Xinhua news agency giving a bare bones account of what happened, as is common for such sensitive events.

Police are still investigating and have yet to determine the identities of the three people in the sport utility vehicle but suspect they are from Xinjiang, according to the sources. The other dead were a Chinese man and a woman from the Philippines, both tourists.

However, Beijing police said late on Monday they were looking for two suspects from Xinjiang in connection with a "major incident" - though it was unclear if these were the people in the vehicle or accomplices still at large.

The sources said that the occupants were suspected of lighting a flammable substance in the vehicle.

"It was no accident. The jeep knocked down barricades and rammed into pedestrians. The three men had no plans to flee from the scene," said a source who has ties to the leadership.

A Reuters reporter at the scene at the time said he did not hear any gunshots.

On Monday night, hours after the fire, Beijing police issued a notice asking local hotels about suspicious guests who had checked in since October 1 and named two suspects it said were from Xinjiang. Four hotels told Reuters they had received the notice.

Judging by their names, the suspects appeared to be ethnic Uighurs.

"To prevent the suspected persons and vehicles from committing further crimes ... please notify law enforcement of any discovery of clues regarding these suspects and the vehicles," said the notice, which was widely circulated on Chinese microblogs.

Beijing police, contacted by telephone, declined to comment. On Monday, the police said on their official microblog only that they were investigating the accident, and did not say if they thought it was an attack.

Calls to the Xinjiang government went unanswered.

Barry Sautman, a political scientist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who has studied Xinjiang, said if it were confirmed as a suicide attack by Uighurs, it would be a first.

"Certainly there have been a lot of bombings carried out by Uighur groups, but none of them as far as I know have involved suicide," he said.

Ilham Tohti, a China-based ethnic Uighur economist and longtime critic of Chinese policy in Xinjiang, said Uighurs had been driven to take extreme measures by China's repression.

"The use of violent means happens because all other outlets for expression are gone. Uighurs do not have any representation, they have no means of self-expression," he told Reuters.

China denies mistreating any of its minority groups, saying they are guaranteed wide-ranging religious and cultural freedoms. Many rights groups say China has overplayed the threat posed to justify its tough controls in energy-rich Xinjiang, which lies strategically on the borders of Central Asia, India and Pakistan.

IN FRONT OF MAO'S PORTRAIT

Police said on Monday the sport utility vehicle veered off the road at the north of the square, crossed the barriers and caught fire almost directly in front of the main entrance of the Forbidden City, in front of a huge portrait of the founder of Communist China, Mao Zedong.

Pictures seen by Reuters showed that the vehicle appeared to have driven several hundred metres (yards) along the pedestrian pavement in front of the Forbidden City entrance before bursting into flames, knocking down people as it went.

One eyewitness, who asked not to be identified due to the incident's sensitive nature, said she saw the vehicle knock down three or four people, and that it had a white banner with black lettering on it streaming from the back.

"People started to panic, and all ran to hide in the toilet," she said. "Three or four minutes later I came out and could see black smoke, and the police had begun to clear people out."

While censors moved quickly to remove pictures of the incident from the popular Twitter-like service Sina Weibo, as often happens in stability-obsessed China, many images and accounts are still viewable a day after the event.

Beijing police stepped up checks on cars around the city in response to the incident, one police officer at a checkpoint on the border between Beijing and Hebei province told Reuters.

A state newspaper reported in July that the government suspected Syrian opposition forces were training extremists from Xinjiang to carry out attacks in China.

"They have been known to carry out attacks outside of Xinjiang," said Yang Shu, a terrorism expert at China's Lanzhou University.

"There have also been reports that East Turkestan elements have received training in Syria, so I would say the possibility does exist of a Xinjiang connection," he added.

(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in the 7th paragraph)

(Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom, Adam Rose, Megha Rajagopalan and Michael Martina; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Japan ruling-party panel to propose break-up of Fukushima operator - media

Posted:

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese ruling-party panel will recommend the break-up of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) after shortcomings in the firm's handling of clean-up operations at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, Japanese media said on Wednesday.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) panel is proposing that Tepco's divisions in charge of decommissioning four damaged reactors and treating contaminated water at the plant should be spun off, the Nikkei and Yomiuri newspapers reported.

Tepco has floundered for more than two and a half years in attempting to clear up the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

An earthquake and tsunami knocked out power and cooling at the plant in March 2011, leading to three reactor meltdowns and explosions that sent a huge plume of radiation into the air and sea, forcing 160,000 people to evacuate nearly townships.

Tepco has lost $27 billion since the disaster at the plant north of Tokyo and faces massive liabilities as it decommissions the facility, compensates evacuees and pays for decontamination of an area nearly the size of Connecticut.

Proposals endorsed by senior LDP members this week include complete financial separation of the Fukushima operations from the utility, or transforming them into an independent administrative agency, the Nikkei and Yomiuri said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised that the government will take primary responsibility for containing contaminated water at Fukushima, saying the situation is under control.

The clean-up process is expected to take at least 30 years and cost more than $100 billion.

After months of denials, Tepco confirmed in July that contaminated water from the coastal plant was flowing into the Pacific Ocean. It has also found that 300 tonnes of highly radioactive water leaked from one of hundreds of quickly built storage tanks and reported numerous other problems.

The government effectively nationalised Tepco last year with a taxpayer-funded rescue. But there has been heated debate over direct government involvement in the company and over whether to spin off the Fukushima clean-up and let the remainder of Tepco focus on generating electricity for the Tokyo area.

Tepco has said that it is not in a position to comment on its future structure. It is revising a business turnaround plan after falling behind on its financial targets. The company reports financial first-half earnings on Thursday.

(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick and Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

Egypt arrests Muslim Brotherhood leader - ministry source

Posted:

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities have detained senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam El-Erian, the latest arrest in a government crackdown against the Islamist movement, an Interior Ministry source said on Wednesday.

Erian, the deputy leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, was taken into custody from a residence in New Cairo where he had been in hiding.

"Yes, he's been arrested and details will soon be released," the source told Reuters.

The state news agency MENA said Erian was arrested in New Cairo but gave no further details.

Local media circulated a photo of what they described as the moment he was arrested, showing a smiling Erian standing next to a bed with two packed duffle bags.

The Muslim Brotherhood Group was banned and many of its leaders have been detained and charged with inciting violence since the army, prompted by mass protests, deposed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi on July 3.

At least 1,000 people, including security forces, died in the violence that followed Mursi's ouster. Hundreds of his supporters were killed when police forces stormed two protest camps, calling for Mursi's reinstatement, on August 14.

An Egyptian court in September banned the Muslim Brotherhood group and seized their funds in a bid to crush the movement, which the government accuses of inciting violence and terrorism.

(Reporting by Asma Alsharif and Omar Fahmy; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

Treat for The Hobbit fans

Posted:

Check out two new TV spots for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.

Filmmaker Peter Jackson is hosting a special sneak preview event for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug. 

Fans will get a sneak peek at the second film of the trilogy after the director announced a global live presentation that will be held next month.

Cinemas in London, New York, Los Angeles and Wellington in New Zealand will be satellite-linked on Nov 4 for an event including a question-and-answer session with cast members, Jackson said on his Facebook page.

The time difference means it will be Nov 5 for Kiwi fans and in Malaysia.

One of the teaser posters for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.

Jackson did not say who would be involved, but the official Hobbit website said cast members would include Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans and Andy Serkis.

Additional cinemas will be set up in select locations worldwide where fans can gather to watch the event live. It will also be streamed on the Internet.

Jackson, a New Zealander, said further details on locations and timings would be released in coming days on the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is set for a Dec 13 release.

The first film in the series, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, was released in December last year with the final chapter The Hobbit: There And Back Again scheduled to come out in July next year.

According to the Hobbit website, production of the the trilogy has so far cost US$561mil. An Unexpected Journey took in just over US$1bil at the box office. 

Check out the two new TV spots for the film. — AFP Relaxnews

Emile Hirsch as John Belushi in new film

Posted:

The young actor is set to play the late actor-musician in an indie biopic.

Emile Hirsch has been cast as Saturday Night Live alum John Belushi in an upcoming biopic from writer-director Steve Conrad, TheWrap has learned.

Hirsch will have to gain weight to play Belushi, who died from a tragic drug overdose at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, California in 1982 at the age of 33. Michael Chiklis played Belushi in the 1989 movie Wired, which Belushi's family and friends refused to support.

Conrad's project boasts their cooperation, with Belushi's widow, Judy Belushi Pisano, producing and Belushi's Blues Brothers co-star Dan Aykroyd executive producing. Emjag's Alexandra Milchan and Bonnie Timmerman are also producing with Scott Lambert of Film 360.

Conrad is planning to start production in the spring in New York.

While Hirsch has a reputation as a gifted dramatic actor thanks to searing performances in Into The Wild, Milk, Killer Joe and Alpha Dog, his comedic chops are underrated by most. His work in The Girl Next Door, Prince Avalanace and The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys prove he's capable of pulling off the part of a sad clown who loved making people laugh as he struggled with his own addiction demons.

Hirsch, who next stars in Peter Berg's Lone Survivor and a Bonnie & Clyde TV movie, is repped by WME and Silver Lining Entertainment. — Reuters
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

More comics coming to TV

Posted:

EXPECT to see more vampires, werewolves and the undead come to life on television.

In the latest sign of Hollywood's growing appetite for comic book properties, San Diego comic book company IDW Publishing is launching a TV division managed by an executive producer of the hit series The Walking Dead.

IDW, also known as Idea and Design Works, already publishes a wide range of comic books and graphic novels based on film and TV titles, including Doctor Who, G.I. Joe, Star Trek and Transformers.

Some of IDW's own comic book series also have been turned into movies, including Sony Pictures' 30 Days Of Night in 2007.

Now, the company wants to develop and finance TV shows based on its catalogue of tales that delve into dark, supernatural worlds.

The move is part of an effort to capitalise on the popularity of comic-inspired TV shows such as AMC's The Walking Dead, based on Robert Kirkman's comics, and Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., created for ABC by Joss Whedon.

IDW chief executive Ted Adams, right, watching graphic artist Tom B. Long draw the text bubbles on a 'Mr Peabody and Sherman' comic book layout.

IDW chief executive Ted Adams, right, watching graphic artist Tom B. Long draw the text bubbles on a Mr Peabody And Sherman comic book layout.

The new TV division, called IDW Entertainment, will be headed by former Starz Media executive David Ozer and housed in the Los Angeles office of production and management company Circle of Confusion, one of the executive producers on The Walking Dead.

"The success of The Walking Dead has opened the door for all sorts of comic books to go to the small screen," said David Alpert, a partner in Circle of Confusion. "We find the stories that are told in comic books are natural adaptations for television."

Following a path similar to that of Marvel Studios, IDW plans to develop and finance its own projects and retain the rights, thereby maintaining more creative and financial control.

"IDW is a powerhouse of creativity, and the studios recognise that potential," said Rick Jacobs, chief creative officer of the new division.

The live-action projects already in development include Life Undead, about a New Orleans detective who gets sucked into a supernatural underworld; and Brooklyn Animal Control, about a unit of the New York Police Department charged with overseeing a community of werewolves.

A third project is V Wars, the chronicle of the first "Vampire War", for which IDW is in discussions with a major network.

IDW executives said they hoped to have at least one project on the air by the end of next year.

"This is the next big step for us as a content company," IDW Publishing chief executive Ted Adams said.

Movie projects in the works are Lore from writer T.P. Louise and artist Ashley Wood; World War Robot, also created by Wood and in development at Disney with Jerry Bruckheimer producing; and Zombies Vs Robots, created by Wood and IDW executive Chris Ryall. The last one is in development with Sony Pictures.

IDW, founded in 1999, initially focused on providing artwork and graphic design for a variety of entertainment companies.

Today, it is the world's fourth-largest comic book publisher, behind Image Comics, DC Comics and Marvel Comics. IDW has 42 employees and relies on a network of about 275 freelance artists from around the world.

IDW's primary business is publishing comic books. This year the company expects to sell 5 million comic books, which typically retail for about US$3.99 each (RM13), and more than 1 million graphic novels, which often sell for as much as US$19.99 (RM63).

Demand for comic books and graphic novels has been brisk in part because of the proliferation of new digital outlets. IDW's sales, which exceed US$20mil (RM63mil) annually, are up 35% percent this year over last, Adams said.

"Unlike most print media that has been savaged by digital versions of content, our digital distribution is up and our print (business) is up as well," Adams said. "People are discovering comics on their digital devices." – Los Angeles Times/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

Treat for The Hobbit fans

Posted:

Check out two new TV spots for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.

Filmmaker Peter Jackson is hosting a special sneak preview event for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug. 

Fans will get a sneak peek at the second film of the trilogy after the director announced a global live presentation that will be held next month.

Cinemas in London, New York, Los Angeles and Wellington in New Zealand will be satellite-linked on Nov 4 for an event including a question-and-answer session with cast members, Jackson said on his Facebook page.

The time difference means it will be Nov 5 for Kiwi fans and in Malaysia.

One of the teaser posters for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.

Jackson did not say who would be involved, but the official Hobbit website said cast members would include Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans and Andy Serkis.

Additional cinemas will be set up in select locations worldwide where fans can gather to watch the event live. It will also be streamed on the Internet.

Jackson, a New Zealander, said further details on locations and timings would be released in coming days on the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is set for a Dec 13 release.

The first film in the series, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, was released in December last year with the final chapter The Hobbit: There And Back Again scheduled to come out in July next year.

According to the Hobbit website, production of the the trilogy has so far cost US$561mil. An Unexpected Journey took in just over US$1bil at the box office. 

Check out the two new TV spots for the film. — AFP Relaxnews

Emile Hirsch as John Belushi in new film

Posted:

The young actor is set to play the late actor-musician in an indie biopic.

Emile Hirsch has been cast as Saturday Night Live alum John Belushi in an upcoming biopic from writer-director Steve Conrad, TheWrap has learned.

Hirsch will have to gain weight to play Belushi, who died from a tragic drug overdose at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, California in 1982 at the age of 33. Michael Chiklis played Belushi in the 1989 movie Wired, which Belushi's family and friends refused to support.

Conrad's project boasts their cooperation, with Belushi's widow, Judy Belushi Pisano, producing and Belushi's Blues Brothers co-star Dan Aykroyd executive producing. Emjag's Alexandra Milchan and Bonnie Timmerman are also producing with Scott Lambert of Film 360.

Conrad is planning to start production in the spring in New York.

While Hirsch has a reputation as a gifted dramatic actor thanks to searing performances in Into The Wild, Milk, Killer Joe and Alpha Dog, his comedic chops are underrated by most. His work in The Girl Next Door, Prince Avalanace and The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys prove he's capable of pulling off the part of a sad clown who loved making people laugh as he struggled with his own addiction demons.

Hirsch, who next stars in Peter Berg's Lone Survivor and a Bonnie & Clyde TV movie, is repped by WME and Silver Lining Entertainment. — Reuters
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Business

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The Star Online: Business

DiGi partners CIMB to launch payment solution

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd has partnered CIMB Bank to launch a new mobile card payment solution to further empower DiGi's growing base of small and medium enterprise (SME) and enterprise customers.

The service, Plug n Pay, utilises mobile payments solution designed by Soft Space Sdn Bhd.

It paves the way for DiGi to enable credit and debit card payment facilities on the go for such customers with a full-packaged mobile Point-of-Sale (mPOS) plan that includes a pocket-size EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) card reader, an Android device and data services.

The latest service by DiGi is the country's first ever mobile cards payment system.

It will provide consumers with additional avenue to pay with their credit or debit card, reducing the risk of cash transactions.

It is also in line with the central bank's vision for Malaysia to be a cashless society.

"This new innovation offers fast, easy and secure payment platform leveraging on mobile connectivity.

"We believe that mobile Internet empowers societies and is a powerful catalyst for businesses," DiGi chief marketing officer Albern Murty said.

"This is reflective of our continued effort to bring relevant services that help business customers harness the power of the Internet for improved efficiencies and growth while benefiting their respective customers," he added.

The Plug n Pay mPOS service plan comes with a full-packaged Android device and EMV card reader for RM715 and a monthly commitment of RM20.

Customers have the flexibility to upgrade devices and Internet plan in addition to the option to bundle voice services, depending on their needs.

With mPOS, customers and merchants have the peace of mind using a secured card acceptance service provided by CIMB Bank and convenience riding on Visa and Mastercard payment platforms.

Merchants will be able to accept payments and use the service at any location where there is 2G, 3G or 4G connectivity.

mPOS is a technology innovation by Soft Space, a Malaysian payment platform and service provider.

Bitcoin goes mainstream with ATM in Vancouver

Posted:

VANCOUVER: A silver-and-blue ATM, perched up next to the espresso bar in a trendy Vancouver coffee shop, could launch a new era for the digital currency bitcoin, offering an almost instant way to exchange the world's leading virtual money for cash.

The value of a bitcoin soared from US$13 in January to a high of $266 in April as more businesses and consumers used them to buy and sell online. Some investors are also treating bitcoins like gold, using them to hedge against currency fluctuations and speculating on their rise.

The kiosk, which looks like the average ATM but with hand and barcode scanners, opened for business on Tuesday, and by mid-morning people were lined up to swap their bitcoins for cash, or to deposit cash to buy more bitcoins.

"It's as easy as walking up to a machine, scanning your hand, entering some cash and buying bitcoin," said Jordan Kelley, chief executive of Las Vegas-based Robocoin, the company that builds the ATMs. "With this, it's a two-minute process. For any online exchange, it's at least two days."

Bitcoins, currently worth about US$210 each, can be transferred without going through banks or clearing houses, thereby cutting fees. Users can buy products and services online or in a handful of stores, including the Waves coffee shop where the ATM is.

With the bitcoin ATM, users scan their hand to confirm identity, then funds move to or from a virtual wallet on their smartphone. The system limits transfers to US$1,000 a day, in an effort to curb money laundering and other fraud.

Bitcoiniacs, the local dealer that operates the ATM, will roll out four other kiosks across Canada in December. Robocoin said Canada was the ideal place to launch the kiosk due to a critical mass of users and less stringent oversight than in the US, where the bitcoin trade is monitored by anti-money laundering regulators.

"We think the Vancouver market is enormous and we're excited to be here," said Kelley. "By the end 2013, we'll be all over Canada. By the end of 2014, we'll be all over the world, including the United States."

Bitcoin is not a recognised currency in Canada, so Ottawa's anti-money laundering watchdog, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, does not monitor its trade.

Still Bitcoiniacs' founders say they are working with the agency to be ready for when Canada does start regulating them.

"We're already being proactive in our business," said Bitcoiniacs co-founder Mitchell Demeter. "We abide by any guidelines they would impose - which includes the 'know you customer' laws and anti-money laundering laws."

GOING MAINSTREAM

Bitcoins were launched in 2008 and are traded within a global network of computers. They are not backed by a single company or government, but their release is tightly controlled, mimicking a central banking system's control over the minting of money.

Bitcoins can be bought with near anonymity, which supporters say lowers fraud risk and increases privacy. But critics say that also makes bitcoins a magnet for drug transactions, money-laundering and other illegal activities.

The currency's reputation took a hit this month, when US regulators shut down Silk Road, an online marketplace used to buy and sell illegal drugs, and seized US$3.6mil in bitcoins.

But the virtual currency is gaining hold among businesses and consumers, a key step to a bigger role.

"I think it's definitely going mainstream," said Demeter. "I think as things progress, and the infrastructure is built, it will become easier for people to buy and sell, and so more people will start using it."

In Vancouver, for example, dozens of people attend weekly bitcoin meet-ups and a member co-op is promoting the currency to a growing list of local retailers.

At Waves, Vancouver resident Chung Cheong used bitcoin to pay for his mug of tea and was happy to mull over the future of the digital currency.

"It's been said that we're at the stage where email was in 1992," he said. "Is it risky? Sure. But look at how the Internet and email changed the world" – Reuters. 

KLCI up, blue chips lift

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI kicked off Wednesday's early session higher, up nearly two points as investors perked up, mirroring the firmer global sentiment.

At 9.18am, the KLCI was up 1.65 points to 1,817.30. Turnover was 135.91 million valued at RM65.45mil. There were 228 gainers, 61 decliners while 181 counters were unchanged.

HwangDBS Vickers Research said with external sentiment on the rise, the local bourse could get a lift.

"The benchmark FBM KLCI may climb to challenge the immediate resistance barrier of 1,825 ahead," it said.

HwangDBS said stocks of interest today would be YTL Corporation and YTL Power, after the group is actively looking to acquire infrastructure assets in Johor; CMMT and Tropicana, following the scrapping of a deal by CMMT to buy a shopping mall and an office tower in Petaling Jaya from Tropicana; and Sarawak Cable, which has been awarded contracts valued at RM619mil to undertake power transmission line projects in Sarawak.

Reuters reported Asian share markets should take heart from record highs in US stocks on Wednesday as investors wager the Federal Reserve will rock no boats at its policy meeting and leave stimulus in place for the next few months at least.

At Bursa Malaysia. PetDag rose 40 sen to RM31.30, United Plantations 28 sen to RM26.98 and PetGas 24 sen to RM25.54.

GAB rose 22 sen to RM17.10 and UMW 10 sen to RM13.10.

Decliners were Lafarge Malaysia, down 25 sen to RM9.85, PPB Group 18 sen to RM14.62 and Tune Insurance, down five sen to RM1.91.
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

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The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

Emile Hirsch as John Belushi in new film

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The young actor is set to play the late actor-musician in an indie biopic.

Emile Hirsch has been cast as Saturday Night Live alum John Belushi in an upcoming biopic from writer-director Steve Conrad, TheWrap has learned.

Hirsch will have to gain weight to play Belushi, who died from a tragic drug overdose at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, California in 1982 at the age of 33. Michael Chiklis played Belushi in the 1989 movie Wired, which Belushi's family and friends refused to support.

Conrad's project boasts their cooperation, with Belushi's widow, Judy Belushi Pisano, producing and Belushi's Blues Brothers co-star Dan Aykroyd executive producing. Emjag's Alexandra Milchan and Bonnie Timmerman are also producing with Scott Lambert of Film 360.

Conrad is planning to start production in the spring in New York.

While Hirsch has a reputation as a gifted dramatic actor thanks to searing performances in Into The Wild, Milk, Killer Joe and Alpha Dog, his comedic chops are underrated by most. His work in The Girl Next Door, Prince Avalanace and The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys prove he's capable of pulling off the part of a sad clown who loved making people laugh as he struggled with his own addiction demons.

Hirsch, who next stars in Peter Berg's Lone Survivor and a Bonnie & Clyde TV movie, is repped by WME and Silver Lining Entertainment. — Reuters

Benedict Cumberbatch as controversial WikiLeaks chief

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British actor Benedict Cumberbatch plays Julian Assange – over the latter's protests.

OVER the last year, between work on the multitude of films and TV series Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be involved in (12 Years A Slave, August: Osage County, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Sherlock), the British actor would find himself, now and then, walking along Hans Crescent in the Knightsbridge section of London. He would pass the Embassy of Ecuador, not far from the fabled Harrods department store, and think about dropping in.

Why not? He had a few thoughts he could share with Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who has been holed up inside the embassy – and whom Cumberbatch portrays in The Fifth Estate.

"Sadly, I did not go in," says the actor, having just run the red carpet for the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of his true-life cyber-thriller. "I would have liked to meet him. I don't know whether he'd want to, though. And if it did happen, I hope it would be a very private event between two men who have been very oddly drawn together in this strange way."

When The Fifth Estate project was announced – adapted from the books Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange And The World's Most Dangerous Website by Daniel Domscheit-Berg and WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War On Secrecy by British journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding – Assange contacted Cumberbatch and pleaded for him to beg off. Neither book portrays Assange in the most flattering light, and the Australian-born hacker-turned-journo-trailblazer was not thrilled.

"It's no secret that we've communicated," Cumberbatch says. "We exchanged e-mails at the beginning of the job. Not many. Basically him saying, 'Please don't do this film,' and me saying, 'This is why I feel it's actually not a bad thing, and I do want to do this film.' And that's where that was left.

"I have a real care for him and his real-life situation, because it is very precarious. But this is a film, it's not a documentary, it's not a piece of legal evidence. It's a dramatisation of a certain account of events. There's a lot of caveats there."

Directed by Bill Condon, The Fifth Estate is a whirligig of a movie that traces Assange's rise from a Down Under upstart to a whistle-blowing guru to an international hot potato caught in a sex scandal, and sought by several governments, including the United States, that were not pleased by the release of thousands of top-secret documents on his website.

Along the way, Assange seems to transform from idealist crusader to somewhat meglomaniacal and paranoid figure. Daniel Bruhl, who plays Formula One racing legend Nicki Lauda in Rush, is Assange's early ally-turned-disillusioned ex-WikiLeaks associate Domscheit-Berg.

If you've seen Assange on YouTube, or in Alex Gibney's We Steal Secrets documentary, and then you watch Cumberbatch in The Fifth Estate, the mannerisms, gait, rhythms of his speech, look in his eyes, even his dance moves (Assange is a terrible dancer) are dead-on.

(inset) Cumberbatch had to change his appearance to look like Assange.

Cumberbatch had to change his appearance to look like Assange in The Fifth Estate.

"There's an intelligence, a charisma, which you can't fake, and Assange has that, and Benedict has that, too," says Condon, the director of Gods And Monsters, Kinsey and a little two-part endeavor called The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.

"It's a lot of work. That just doesn't happen easily," the director notes in a separate interview. "It's not dissimilar to what I went through with Ian McKellen in Gods And Monsters and Liam Neeson in Kinsey – British actors who start on the outside and then move in. The first thing is the wig, and the teeth for Benedict, and the frock, and the voice, obviously, and then they go deeper and deeper and deeper."

Condon was also struck by the way his star handled the e-mail entreaties from Assange.

"Just imagine you've got an actor who is that serious and who is already in the process, in rehearsals, and you're about to start shooting – his job, which he takes very seriously, is to channel Assange, is to become Assange. He's not Daniel Day-Lewis, but he did become that person," Condon says.

"So imagine you're doing that, and then you open up your computer, and the person you're channeling – your inner voice – is begging you not to do the film. It was a really unique circumstance that he was in, and I felt such compassion for him. I thought it put a terrible, really unfair strain on Benedict."

For London-born Cumberbatch, 37, another real-life controversial figure is on the horizon: His next role is that of British cryptographer Alan Turing in a historical drama, The Imitation Game. Considered one of the fathers of artificial intelligence – and one of the genius code-breakers working in Britain's fabled Bletchley Park during World War II – Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for being homosexual and forced to undergo chemical castration.

Says the actor, "It's a really powerful and beautiful, beautiful piece of writing, and he was an amazing human being, who is finally and rightfully getting some recognition for the great advances he made.

"It's devastating, really, what happened to him. It really makes you ashamed of a country, at that time, to do that to a man who was so instrumental in shortening the war by anything up to two years, and by doing so, saving millions of lives." – The Philadelphia Inquirer/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Nation

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The Star Online: Nation

Seri Perdana utility bills hit RM2.3mil last year

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THE utility bills of the Prime Minister's official residence Seri Perdana in Putrajaya came to RM2.3mil last year, says Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.

In a written reply to Anthony Loke (DAP-Seremban), he said RM2,237,788.13 was spent on electricity while RM311,174.25 was spent on water throughout 2012.

Shahidan also said that the electricity and water bills for the Deputy Prime Minister's official residence Sri Satria were RM865,458.56 and RM99,264.03 for last year.

At a press conference in Parliament lobby, Loke called on Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to justify the costs.

"The US White House is only about 7.2ha, while Seri Perdana is 17ha and Sri Satria is 7.3ha.

"The White House does not only serve as the US President's residence but also his office.

However, Seri Perdana is merely the Prime Minister's residence," he said.

Loke proposed that Najib and Muhyiddin pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST) out of their own pockets instead of making the taxpayers pay," he said.

Inmate misses family most

Posted:

GEORGE TOWN: Although he has six more months to serve before his release, a 46-year-old prison inmate longs for his family, especially with Deepavali around the corner.

The man, who has two children aged between 10 and 20, is serving a two-year jail term in the Penang Prison for drug possession.

"What I miss most is definitely my family.

He promised to turn over a new leaf and help out his family with their cattle farming business once he is freed.

He was among nine Hindu inmates who received packets of Deepavali cookies from the Malaysia Hindhu-dharma Mamandram Penang branch and Om Shakti charitable organisations at the prison.

Malaysia Hindhudharma Maman-dram Penang branch deputy president D.S.V. Nandakumar stressed that the public should not exclude ex-convicts from the society.

Some 2,500 packets of Deepavali cookies were distributed to the Hindu inmates in Penang Prison as well as the Seberang Prai Prison Complex in Sungai Jawi.

Penang Prisons deputy director Mohd Sobri Mahadzir thanked the society for visiting the inmates for the past 33 years.

Anwar dismisses reports that Azmin will replace Khalid as MB

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dismissed reports that PKR deputy president Azmin Ali will replace Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor Mentri Besar.

"If they want to make a change, how would I know? It's not an issue," he said at a press conference at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

He was asked to comment on a report in a Malay-language daily about talk that Azmin would replace Khalid as several people in the PKR were allegedly unhappy with the current Mentri Besar's style of administration.

Khalid was recently criticised by Anwar, who allegedly told him that he had failed to expend the state's revenue well.

Commenting on the criticism, Anwar said: "Khalid appointed me as the (economic) adviser (to the Selangor government), that was why I made the remark. I have the responsibility to remind (Abdul Khalid)."

Meanwhile, Azmin denied the rumours, saying it was a new matter even to him.

"There are no efforts to change leadership in the Selangor government. If both Khalid and Anwar have denied the matter, clearly the rumour is untrue," he said when met at the Parliament lobby.

Azmin, who is Bukit Antarabangsa assembyman, said he recently had a four-hour meeting with Khalid where they discussed issues pertaining to the state.

"Despite some issues raised by the leadership, he (Khalid) is a man of conviction, incorruptible and has shown committment to Pakatan Rakyat's cause.

"There is no reason for us to replace Khalid as the Mentri Besar," said Azmin, adding that he would be meeting Khalid again today.

Khalid has also brushed off the rumours, saying he took the criticism positively and that people were free to speak their mind.
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

Five morbid art to check out

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Halloween art? Humbug! Let's just make you queasy on the inside.

It's not all about the spooky thrills during Halloween. In the art scene, there's the obvious blood and gore to keep horror fans coming back for more. 

But let's leave the ketchup-splattered Dracula fangs and plastic axes for the school Halloween party night. Our Halloween art list – brief as it may be – is all about unsettling you from the inside. 

We've decided to stretch the "disturbing" part in art – complete with all the psychotic brushwork, pyschological drama and quietly violent edges.

Francisco Goya

Spanish romantic painter Francisco Goya is quite to the go-to person for drip-drop bloody art. His piece Saturn Devouring His Son is some tasty chewy work to ... err, bite into. 

As the story goes in Greek mythology, the titan Cronus (Saturn in Roman texts), fearing that he would be overthrown by his children (as he had usurped his own father), began devouring each of them whole. 

(Spoiler: the good news is they are later purged, still alive, by Zeus.) However, in Goya's take on the tale, a deranged-looking Cronus violently consumes them piece by piece instead.

Spanish romantic painter and printmaker Francisco Goya's tasty piece of cold blood 'Saturn Devouring His Son'.

Edouard Manet

French painter Edouard Manet isn't your usual suspect in the traditional Halloween type sweepstakes? But his work Le Suicide – from the 1870s – is as grim as it gets. 

The realism of Le Suicide has sparked rumours that it depicts an actual suicide, but the subject, if any, is not known. Some say it was inspired by an assistant of Manet who committed suicide in Manet's studio more than a decade earlier. 

With this morbid piece on your wall, you're bound to have those pesky trick or treat kids running for their lives.

Rai Escale

Spanish artist Rai Escale isnâ¿¿t someone for happy endings as witnessed by the dead brides in his 'Mirror Noir' series.

Spanish artist Rai Escale isn't someone for happy endings. His bridal portraits explore the tension of people during what they call "the most beautiful day of my life" – their weddings. 

In Escale's hands, these old black and white portraits, depicting a cold Catholic iconography, turn out with very different results and interpretations. 

They shift between contemplative saints and martyrs, prostitutes and dead brides right to white ladies (those spectral beings of Central European mythology which were supposed to be female spirits wandering the lakes and mountains after untimely death before a wedding, suicide after rape, or some other prenuptial tragedy). 

The game is really over when you say "I do" in Escale's world.

Vinicius Quesada

Brazilian artist Vinicius Quesada has definitely left his mark in his work by using real blood in his paintings.

It's not all about monsters, ghouls and things that go bump in the night. Take for instance Brazilian street artist Vinicius Quesada who takes his art further with a blood bag or two. 

His series entitled, Blood Piss Blues, definitely matched its description – with the use of blood and urine. With his incredibly detailed psychedelic art of violent geishas, smoking monkeys, and other apocalyptic images, Quesada's blood-laced masterpieces are definitely worth the shock value.

Junji Ito

Japanese horror manga artist Junji Ito will make you sweat with his pyschological drama.

There is no shortage of horror comic book artists. But if we had to pick one for the lonely coffin, then something from Japanese horror manga artist Junji Ito will do very nicely. 

He is the mastermind behind classics like Gyo, Tomie and Uzumaki. Human teenagers turn into snails in Uzumaki. A caterpillar grows from an old man's hair. The rest of Ito's manga, whether complete volumes or one-shots, are a menagerie of beautifully sullen, dazzlingly psychotic artwork with chilling writing. 

But it's his pyschological drama that really hits home – without the need for blood and gore.

Related stories: 

5 horror comics that need their own movie now

5 food-related items for Halloween

Silent lucidity

Posted:

Inanimate objects are given life in The Print Room's exhibition, It's Still Life.

IF there is one thing that still life photography tells us, it's that simple, everyday objects can be far more extraordinary that we can possibly imagine.

For its eighth exhibition, The Print Room moves move away from the documentary-style photography of its past few shows to focus on still life photography.

It's Still Life showcases the work of seven photographers who each share their personal stories through individual collections. The show features the work of London-born and trained photographer Paul Gadd and six of his students – Alex Chan, Razlan Yusof, Weng Wah, Thomas Seiffert, Linda Chin, Farah Azizan and Shareem Amry.

"It was about change. The students were getting used to going out and doing documentary (photography) and I wanted to rattle the cage a bit. I introduced still life to them … where they had to make something from nothing, really. It was initially very hard for them because they'd never done it … to actually sit in the studio and create a body of work from nothing and create the lighting and everything ... it was a challenge," says Gadd, who is the director of The Print Room.

It's Still Life, he shares, is the result of several month's of hard work.

Regardless of whether we believe in reincarnation, paradise or some kind of transformation on a molecular level, our fears and nightmares exist in the present. Thomas Sieffert's tries to present this is his work for It's Still Life, showing at The Print Room

Thomas Sieffert's Bouquet Of Fish #1 reminds us that our fears and nightmares exist in the present ... regardless of whether we believe in reincarnation, paradise or some kind of transformation on a molecular level.

"There is some good stuff in here. I'm really happy with the work but it took months of hard work. Many of these photos had to be shot over and over again," he says, explaining that the students had to "revamp their visual instincts" and move away from the street-photography mode which they'd honed their skills on.

"It was all new to them. Alex, for example, started out photographing fruit bowls and flowers, which is what people generally associate with still life. But it wasn't working ... because, well, it wasn't him. So I suggested he use his dolls as subjects – he collects these Manga dolls which he gets from Japan – because these told his stories," shares Gadd.

Paul Gadd's series of photos for It's Still Life are personal, representing his childhood, family and issues.

Paul Gadd's series of photos for It's Still Life are personal, representing his childhood, family and issues.

In his series of photos, Chan used the dolls to hint at topics which not spoken off openly in socket, such as drug abuse, homosexuality and paedophilia.

"The work is very personal, naturally. It tells their stories," Gadd explains.

The work displayed in the show is varied - from deeply personal issues to existential concerns and social issues, It's Still Life showcases the uniquely individual visions of contemporary life.

All the photographs were shot on film, which Gadd feels is essential in the process of learning photography.

"We don't do anything digital. I think to learn about photography as a process, it is important to shoot on film. You really learn to appreciate and respect the art which is very important," he says.

>> It's Still Life is on till Dec 31 at The Print Room (49, Lorong 16/9E, Section 16, Petaling Jaya, Selangor) on weekends from 2pm to 7pm. On weekdays, the show is open for viewing by appointment. Call 012 337 2903, log on to theprintroomkl.com or email info@theprintroomkl.com.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Metro: Central

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The Star Online: Metro: Central

New clashes on final day of Bangladesh strike

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DHAKA: Riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at opposition protesters Tuesday, the third day of a general strike in Bangladesh, as tensions rose before a court ruling on a 2009 mutiny.

Police said a supporter of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was hacked to death in the western town of Magura, and scores including a city mayor were injured just outside the capital Dhaka.

A senior police officer was also seriously injured by a small bomb in the capital's Hazaribagh area, during a series of clashes nationwide.

"Hit by seven splinters, the officer was rushed to hospital. He is seriously injured but now out of danger," Maruf Hossain, deputy commissioner of Dhaka police, told AFP.

At least 17 people have been killed since Friday when the opposition began a push to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to quit.

After a series of mass rallies at the weekend, the BNP and its Islamist allies enforced a three-day general strike which ends later Tuesday.

But this is unlikely to ease tensions.

A court in Dhaka is due to give its verdict Wednesday on 823 soldiers accused of taking part in a mass mutiny in 2009 soon after Hasina came to power.

BNP leader Khaleda Zia, who has twice served as premier, has long been seen as close to the military. Her husband was a former army chief who became president in 1977 in the aftermath of a coup.

Zia, who has a notoriously toxic relationship with Hasina, has branded the current government "illegal" and says that under the law a neutral caretaker government must be set up three months before national elections, due in January.

Hasina has scrapped the caretaker system and instead proposed an all-party interim government led by herself to oversee the polls.

On Saturday Hasina invited Zia to hold talks and urged her to postpone the strike, during a 40-minute phone conversation believed to be the first time in at least a decade that they have spoken.

But leaked audiotape of the conversation showed they spent most of the time quarrelling over their past records.

"You killed people by carrying out the August 21 grenade attack," Hasina said during the call, referring to blasts at her rally in 2004 which killed at least 20 people and injured Hasina, then the opposition leader.

"We did not do the killing. The longer you live is better for us. The more indecent language you use, the better for us," said Zia.

Hasina also accused Zia of celebrating a fake birthday on August 15, which is also the anniversary of the assassination of Hasina's father who was the country's founding leader, along with almost her entire family.

Zia shouted back: "Can't anybody be born on that day?"

Bangladesh has been ruled alternately by Hasina and Zia since 1991, apart from when a military-backed government ran the country between 2007 and 2008.

Since independence in 1971 the country has seen at least 19 coups although the power of the military has diminished in recent years.

While no senior officers were implicated in the 2009 mutiny, the uprising fuelled the sense that many people serving in the military were opposed to Hasina.

Fifty-seven top army officers were killed in the event.

Lead prosecutor Baharul Islam told AFP that his legal team expects judges to hand down the death penalty on Wednesday against most of the accused, who include a former BNP lawmaker.

While the nation has a long history of political violence, this year has been the deadliest since the former East Pakistan broke away from Islamabad and gained independence.

At least 150 people have been killed since January after a controversial court began handing down death sentences on Islamist leaders allied to ex-premier Zia. -AFP

Beijing, Shanghai divorces soar over property tax

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BEIJING: Divorce rates in China's two wealthiest cities, Beijing and Shanghai, have soared after the announcement of a property tax that includes a loophole for couples who split up, figures show.

Nearly 40,000 couples divorced in the Chinese capital in the first nine months of this year, jumping 41 percent on the same period in 2012, according to figures released by Beijing's civil affairs officials this month.

Similarly, divorces in Shanghai - where concerns over the tax were high - leaped almost 40 percent over the same period, data from authorities in the commercial hub showed.

But figures from the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing, where the tax has yet to be imposed, had divorces there rising by just over seven percent.

In March China announced a nationwide capital gains tax of 20 percent on the profits owners make from selling residential property.

But the terms allow couples with two properties who divorce and put each house into one person's name to then sell them tax-free under certain conditions - after which they can remarry.

The capital's divorce growth rate was "far higher" than in the previous four years, the state-run Beijing Youth Daily reported Tuesday.

"Some of these people divorced in order to avoid the capital gains tax," Zhang Dawei, director of research at real estate agency Centaline China in Beijing, told AFP. "They will quickly remarry."

Getting separated on paper is currently the "only feasible" way to escape the tax, he added.

With property prices skyrocketing in recent years, the capital gains tax can amount to tens of thousands of dollars in China's first-tier cities if fully implemented.

Homeowners were previously taxed at just one or two percent of the sale price.An exemption from the tax is available for vendors who are selling their only home and have owned it for more than five years.

More than 44,000 couples separated in the January-September period this year in Shanghai, up nearly 40 percent year-on-year, official data showed.

A Shanghai marriage registration office - where divorce applications are also processed in China - has put out a sign saying: "There are risks in the property market, think twice before you get divorced," the Beijing Youth Daily said.

Shanghai divorce lawyer Zhong Tao told AFP that the effect of the capital gains tax on his business had peaked in the early part of the year, as it had been widely publicised at the time but Shanghai had yet to fully implement it.

"In fact the divorce rate is rising every year and caused by multiple factors, including related policies like the 20 percent capital gains tax, but this is just an episode," he said.

Other financial considerations that can also play a part in divorces include qualifying to take out a lower-rate first-time-buyer mortgage or, in other cases, buy a second apartment.

Zhang said: "The divorce rate has been high over the past few years due to the home purchase restrictions and the capital gains tax in all cities where these policies apply."

But policymakers were unlikely to be able to close the loophole, he added.

"This is a grey area. The government cannot do anything if a couple insist on getting divorced," he said.

Property prices are a sensitive issue in China and authorities have sought for the past three years to control their rise.

As well as the capital gains tax, other measures have included restrictions on purchases of second and third homes, higher minimum down-payments and taxes on multiple and non-locally owned homes in some cities. -AFP
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