Sabtu, 31 Mei 2014

The Star Online: World Updates

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: World Updates


Six Egyptian border guards killed - army spokesman

Posted: 31 May 2014 09:10 PM PDT

CAIRO (Reuters) - Six Egyptian soldiers from the border guard were killed when they were targeted by smugglers and "outlaws" during a patrol in a western part of the country, an army spokesman said on Saturday.

The six soldiers, who included an officer, were killed while carrying out a patrol in the western desert area of al-Wahat, the spokesman said in a statement on his official Facebook page late on Saturday.

The statement said the attack came in response to security forces' recent arrest of smugglers and confiscation of weapons, ammunition, cars and drugs.

Egypt has long desert borders with Sudan and Libya, where experts say weapons flows have increased since an uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

(Reporting by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Matt Driskill)

U.S. soldier freed in Afghanistan, five Taliban prisoners leave Guantanamo

Posted: 31 May 2014 09:10 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The last U.S. prisoner of war held in Afghanistan was handed over to U.S. Special Operations forces on Saturday, in a dramatic swap for five Taliban detainees who were released from Guantanamo Bay prison and flown to Qatar.

Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl had been held for nearly five years by Afghan militants and his release, following years of on-and-off negotiations, suddenly became possible after harder-line factions of the Afghan Taliban apparently shifted course and agreed to back it, according to U.S. officials.

Bergdahl, 28, was handed over about 6 p.m. local time on Saturday, a senior official said. The U.S. forces, who had flown in by helicopter, were on the ground very briefly, said the officials, who would not specify the precise location of the handover.

A U.S. defence official said Bergdahl was able to walk and became emotional on his way to freedom. "Once he was on the helicopter, he wrote on a paper plate, 'SF?'" the official said, referring to the abbreviation for special forces. "The operators replied loudly: 'Yes, we've been looking for you for a long time.' And at this point, Sergeant Bergdahl broke down."

President Barack Obama hailed the release in a brief appearance with Bergdahl's parents, Bob and Jani, in the White House Rose Garden, saying that "while Bowe was gone, he was never forgotten".

Bergdahl was on his way to an American military hospital in Germany, a U.S. defence official said. Another defence official said it was expected that after treatment in Germany he would be transferred to a military medical facility in San Antonio, Texas.

U.S. special forces took custody of Bergdahl in a non-violent exchange with 18 Taliban members in eastern Afghanistan, senior U.S. officials said, adding that he was believed to be in good condition. Before leaving for Germany, he received medical care at Bagram Air Base, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan.

Within hours of his release, a second U.S. defence official said the five Taliban detainees, now formally in Qatari custody, had departed the Guantanamo prison. They were aboard a U.S. military C-17 aircraft and en route to the Gulf emirate.

The prisoner swap comes as America is winding down its long war in Afghanistan, and raises the question of whether this could lead to broader peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government for a negotiated end to the conflict.

"We do hope that having succeeded in this narrow but important step, it will create the possibility of expanding the dialogue to other issues. But we don't have any promises to that effect," said one senior U.S. official deeply involved in the diplomacy.

TOUGH RECOVERY PROCESS

Bergdahl, who is from Idaho, was the only known missing U.S. soldier in the Afghan war that was launched soon after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States to force the Taliban - accused of sheltering al Qaeda militants - from power.

He was captured under unknown circumstances in eastern Afghanistan by militants on June 30, 2009, about two months after arriving in the country.

His recovery after long years in captivity could be difficult. At the White House, Bergdahl's father began his words speaking a Muslim prayer and said his son was having difficulty speaking English. He asked for patience from the media as the family helped him re-adjust.

A U.S. defence official said Bergdahl would continue treatment at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, including the start of his "reintegration process".

"That includes time for him to tell his story, decompress, and to reconnect with his family through telephone calls and video conferences," the official said.

Bergdahl's release could be a national security boost for Obama, whose foreign policy has been widely criticized in recent months. But some members of Congress have worried in the past over the potential release of the five Taliban detainees, particularly Mohammed Fazl, a "high-risk" detainee held at Guantanamo since early 2002. Fazl is alleged to be responsible for the killing of thousands of Afghanistan's minority Shi'ite Muslims between 1998 and 2001.

A U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the five men as Fazl, Mullah Norullah Noori, Mohammed Nabi, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Abdul Haq Wasiq. Pentagon documents released by the WikiLeaks organization said all five were sent to Guantanamo in 2002, the year the detention facility opened. They were classified as "high-risk" detainees "likely to pose a threat" to the United States, its interests and allies.

U.S. officials referred to the release of the Taliban detainees as a transfer and noted they would be subject to certain restrictions in Qatar. One of the officials said that would include a minimum one-year ban on them travelling outside of Qatar as well as monitoring of their activities.

Bergdahl's freedom followed a renewed round of indirect U.S.-Taliban talks in recent months, with Qatar acting as intermediary, the officials said.

The U.S. had been trying diplomacy to free Bergdahl since late 2010, but talks had been complicated, U.S. officials said, by an internal split between Taliban factions willing to talk to Americans and those staunchly opposed.

That changed in recent weeks - the exact time-frame is unclear - when Taliban hardliners reversed position, officials said.

The swap also comes days after Obama said he would keep 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, mostly to train Afghan forces, after NATO combat operations end at the end of 2014. The last soldiers, aside from a small presence at U.S. diplomatic posts, will leave at the end of 2016.

A U.S. official said he did not think there was a link with the announcement on Tuesday of the troop withdrawal timetable.

"This discussion predates the decision on troops," he said. "This is just a matter of things coming together with the help of the Qataris and the Taliban realizing that we were serious."

FAMILY, HOMETOWN CELEBRATE

The Bergdahl family was in Washington, D.C., when informed by Obama of the release. The parents said in a statement they were "joyful and relieved," adding: "We cannot wait to wrap our arms around our only son." Bergdahl's hometown of Hailey, Idaho, also began celebrating.

"Once we heard about it. We were pretty excited," said 17-year-old Real Weatherly, who was making signs on Saturday and blowing up balloons to hang outside the shop where she works.

The Afghan Taliban confirmed on Saturday it had freed Bergdahl. "This is true. After several rounds of talks for prisoners' swap, we freed U.S. soldier and our dear guest in exchange of five commanders held in Guantanamo Bay since 2002," a senior Taliban commander said.

The Taliban commander said Bergdahl had mostly been held in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan after what he termed his "dramatic" kidnapping from Afghanistan's Paktika province in June 2009.

Reuters first reported the potential deal involving the five Taliban detainees in December 2011.

While U.S. and Taliban envoys have met directly in the past, there were no direct U.S.-Taliban contacts during the most recent negotiations, U.S. officials said. Messages were passed via Qatari officials.

The final stage of negotiations, which took place in the Qatari capital, Doha, began one week ago, the U.S. officials said. Obama and Qatar's emir spoke on Tuesday and reaffirmed the security conditions under which the Taliban members would be placed, they said.

(Additional reporting by Missy Ryan, Roberta Rampton, Mark Hosenball, Will Dunham, David Brunnstrom, Elvina Nawaguna and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Frances Kerry, Peter Cooney and Alex Richardson)

Thai forces descend on central Bangkok to stifle coup protests

Posted: 31 May 2014 08:25 PM PDT

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's military government has readied thousands of troops and police to stop any protests on Sunday against its seizure of power, with shopping malls and some train stations closing in central Bangkok areas where protesters may congregate.

The military took over on May 22 after months of protests that had undermined the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, forcing ministries to close for weeks on end, hurting business confidence and causing the economy to shrink.

Protests against the coup have taken place in Bangkok most days since then although they have been small and brief.

On Sunday the authorities are anticipating that protesters will gather at several spots in the capital including an area in the centre where big malls are located. The military has banned political gatherings of five people or more.

Deputy police chief Somyot Poompanmoung told Reuters that 5,700 police and soldiers were being sent to these areas and rapid deployment units were ready to stop protests that spring up elsewhere.

Some top-end malls around the Ratchaprasong area have chosen to close or have reduced opening hours, and the operator of the Skytrain overhead rail network has shut several stations in the central area.

"It's a business centre and we need to protectively avoid any damage if authorities need to break up a gathering," Somyot said, adding mall owners could also find themselves in trouble with the authorities if protests took place on their premises.

On Saturday, as on the two previous days, the authorities effectively closed down the normally busy roads around Victory Monument, which was becoming a focal point for opposition to the coup. The area was flooded with police and troops but no protesters turned up.

"RECONCILIATION"

In a televised address late on Friday, army chief and coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the military would need time to reconcile Thailand's antagonistic political forces and push through reforms.

He outlined a process beginning with three months of "reconciliation". A temporary constitution would be drawn up and an interim prime minister and cabinet chosen in a second phase, taking about a year, he said. An election would come at an unspecified time after that.

The United States, European Union countries and others have called for rapid restoration of democracy.

At a conference in Singapore on Saturday, U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel urged the Thai armed forces to release detainees, end censorship and "move immediately to restore power to the people of Thailand, through free and fair elections".

Australia scaled back relations with the Thai military on Saturday and banned coup leaders from travelling there. [ID:nL3N0OH06L]

At the heart of nearly a decade of political turmoil in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy is conflict between the Bangkok-based royalist establishment dominated by the military, old-money families and the bureaucracy, and supporters of former telecommunications mogul Thaksin Shinawatra, who is adored by the poor in the north and northeast.

Thaksin, who was ousted as premier in a 2006 coup, is the brother of Yingluck and was considered the real power behind her government. He has chosen to live in exile since fleeing a 2008 conviction for abuse of power.

(Writing by Alan Raybould; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Business

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: Business


SIPP-YTL-Tenaga JV picked for 1,000MW Johor power plant job

Posted: 31 May 2014 07:48 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: The consortium of SIPP Energy Sdn Bhd (SIPP), YTL Power International Bhd (YTL) and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) have been picked for a power plant project in Pasir Gudang, Johor.

The Energy Commission said on Saturday the group was picked based on their ability to offer competitive rates in the recently concluded tender exercises. This was on condition the technical and commercial proposals were acceptable to the commission.

The consortium will develop a fast track combined cycle power plant (CCGT) using proven technology with a capacity of 1,000 MW to 1,400 MW in Pasir Gudang. 

"The levelised tariff that may be considered competitive must be comparable to the Prai CCGT tender exercise concluded in 2012," it said.

It said since 2010, in consultation with the Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water, they opted for three procurement methods to secure new generation capacity to meet the increasing demand for electricity.

The three methods were direct award, restricted bidding and open bidding exercises.

The commission explained the selection of the procurement methodology hinged on the date when the plant should be operational, the time required for the development and completion of the plant, availability of a suitable site to meet the commercial operation date requirement, and the time required to adhere to environmental and regulatory requirements.

It said the recent drop in available capacity due to unexpectedly high unscheduled outages of power plants, fuel supply issues, deration of plants and transmission constraints raised concern on the security of our electricity supply system.

It cited the incident was on 7 May 2014 when Tenaga Nasional Bhd's grid system operator had to initiate load shedding causing supply interruptions in several states in order to stabilize the grid system.

"In consideration of medium term planning scenario and current operational parameters, the Energy Commission has decided that there is a requirement to fast track the construction of a plant that was scheduled to be operational in 2020 to an earlier date in 2018 to meet the system requirements.

"The optimal way to meet this deadline is through a conditional offer whilst still stipulating the need for competitive bid for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) portion of the project," it said. 

The commission also said it would vet the EPC tender and the use of only proven gas turbine (GT) technology to ensure all reputable GT manufacturers could participate in the tender. 

"Other aspects of the project, namely the technical and commercial proposals, will also be subjected to review and approval by the commission.

"The government will always ensure that the procurement of new generation capacity will be done in a manner that is beneficial to the nation and also at competitive prices," it said.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz


Oozing with fun

Posted: 30 May 2014 08:24 PM PDT

L. Frank Baum's grandson gets his own Oz movie.

A friend suggested during a dinner party that Roger Baum – the great-grandson of Wizard Of Oz creator L. Frank Baum – should write a book based on the characters who live in the Land of Oz.

Roger Baum got past his initial misgivings and wrote Dorothy Of Oz in 1989. It's taken 25 years, but a film version of the book, the animated Legends Of Oz: Dorothy's Return, opens this coming Thursday.

"My initial reaction was a presumption that I could do it. Then I began to wonder if I could really do it. There are millions of Oz fans worldwide.

"My great-granddad's books have been translated into 72 different languages. I didn't want to insult my great-granddad, but I think it worked out OK," the 75-year-old Baum says.

Until four years ago, Baum didn't think the book would ever be made into a movie. He did suspect that if anyone was interested, it would be Alpine Pictures since the company had a quote from the introduction to L. Frank Baum's The Last Princess on its website: "A prominent educator tells me that fairy tales are of untold value in developing imagination in the young. I believe it."

The film company initially had no interest in Roger Baum's work, but it eventually opted to adapt the first book Baum ever wrote based on the Oz characters.

Fans of the Oz books will see familiar faces – Dorothy and Toto – but also new characters such as the wicked Jester (voiced by Martin Short), the heroic Marshal Mallow (Hugh Dancy), the wobbly owl Wiser (Oliver Platt) and the ancient tree Tugg (Patrick Stewart).

Baum's plan was to use the original characters from his grandfather's books to bridge his works to the original tales, but he then add new characters and events even if they didn't line up exactly with the original books.

"My great-granddad wrote 14 books and he never meant for them to be a series. But the kids kept asking for another one," Baum says. "Some of his books are contradictory. So I thought it was safer to add new characters. I also kept that all of the stories are about love, heart, wisdom and courage."

And just like his great-grandfather, Baum turned to the Flying Monkeys for the scary parts.

The adaptation of Dorothy Of Oz to script form, by Adam Balsam and Randi Barnes, included several changes. They moved the scenes of Dorothy in Kansas to a more modern time and had the evil Jester turn the people of Oz into marionettes instead of china dolls.

Baum had final script approval, but he was very cautious about suggesting changes to the early pages.

"You can change one thing at the beginning and it has a ripple effect. I found myself concentrating on the ending because those were simple to manoeuvre and change. The important thing was that good wins over evil," Baum says.

He understands why so many people love the books his great-grandfather wrote because his parents read him the books every night.

L. Frank Baum died 19 years before Roger Baum was born, but he heard lots of stories about his great-grandfather.

"I hope this is a compliment to my great-granddad," Baum says. "It was a scary proposition but also my honour."

Legends Of Oz: Dorothy's Return opens in cinemas nationwide on June 5.

Très Jolie effect: Angelina through the years

Posted: 28 May 2014 09:00 AM PDT

Angelina Jolie has grown from being gothic and rebellious to becoming one of the most powerful and graceful women in Hollywood. Let's chart her maturity through her projects.

The Rock 'N' Roll Dreams Come Through (1994)

Before Jolie got herself onto the A-list, she was cast next to Meatloaf for this music video. Check it out: She's only 19, but there's no mistaking those lips and her eyes.

Hackers (1995)

This was the film in which Jolie met her first husband, British actor Jonny Lee Miller (now starring in the TV series Elementary). They were married shortly after the movie was done, and divorced four years later.

Gia (1998)

Jolie took on the challenging part of 1980s supermodel Gia Carangi, who rose to the top of the fashion world as quickly as she was struck down by her untimely death at age 26. For her effort, Jolie won a Golden Globe and received an Emmy nomination.

Pushing Tin (1999)

Jolie met her second husband, much older US actor Billy Bob Thornton, in this film. In their brief marriage, they provided fodder for the tabloids with their unusual public displays of affections (for example, wearing vials of each other's blood). They divorced in 2003 after four years.

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

Jolie won her first Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress with this film. She was lauded for portraying a mental patient with passion and insight, although her sanity was in question at the Oscars when she kissed her older brother James Haven on the lips, leaving him in tears during her acceptance speech and raising the eyebrows of everyone watching.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Fanboys finally learned that Jolie was as adept in action sequences as she was in dramatics, and this was the start of many action movies she would make. The film was a hit, despite Jolie's terrible British accent, as Lara Croft proved she was no archaeologist by trampling all things ancient.

Mr & Mrs Smith (2005)

Another film, another "husband". Brad Pitt's marriage to Jennifer Aniston was falling apart when Jolie met him on the set of this hit film. Yes, that fact is arguable, but there was a sex scene that had to be deleted for the film to earn it a PG-13 rating. You decide.

A Mighty Heart (2007)

Pitt produced this movie based on real events that shocked the world. Jolie took on the part of French freelance journalist Mariane Pearl, who went in search of her husband Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, when he was kidnapped (and ultimately murdered) by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002.

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Though Jolie did give her voice to another animated film, 2004's Shark Tale, she sounds much better here as the fearsome warrior-cat Tigress. She was also in the sequel Kung Fu Panda 2 and two other related short films, Kung Fu Panda Holiday and Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters.

Changeling (2008)

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film based on real events received three Oscar nominations, including one for Jolie in the Best Actress category. The film stars Jolie as a working single mum in California in the 1920s, who is reunited with her missing son (by a corrupt police force) only to realise he is an impostor.

In The Land Of Blood And Honey (2011)

After directing the documentary, Jolie went on to direct this war drama set during the Bosnian War.

Unbroken (2014)

Other than Maleficent, Jolie has another movie this year that she directed. The feature film, scripted by Joel and Ethan Coen, chronicles the life of Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic track star who survived a plane crash in the Pacific theater, spent 47 days drifting on a raft, and then more than two and a half years as a prisoner of war in several brutal Japanese internment camps. 

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Metro: Central

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: Metro: Central


Pakistan ruling party MP kidnapped

Posted: 31 May 2014 07:04 AM PDT

LAHORE, Pakistan: A provincial lawmaker from Pakistan's ruling party has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom, police said Saturday.

Rana Jameel Hassan of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N party was kidnapped on a motorway near the eastern town of Sargodha early Saturday as he returned from a funeral with his wife, police and relatives said.

"The kidnappers followed him in a car and took him away leaving his wife behind at Rawalpindi and asked her to arrange about 300,000 dollars (ransom money) in three days," the lawmaker's brother Rana Wakeel Hassan told AFP.

Senior police official Ahmed Ishaq Jehangir confirmed the kidnapping and said that police had begun an investigation.

A family source quoted the wife of the kidnapped MP as saying that when kidnappers followed them her husband sped away, but the abductors rammed their car to stop them.

She said that the armed men, who spoke the Pashto language of northwestern Pakistan, had blindfolded the pair, before dropping her near the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The chief minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, who is also the younger brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has ordered the police to immediately recover Hassan.

The MP represents the eastern Nankana Sahib district in Punjab provincial assembly.

Islamist militants have in the past used hostages as bargaining chips to try to obtain the release of Taliban prisoners and also for ransom. -AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies


Oozing with fun

Posted: 30 May 2014 08:24 PM PDT

L. Frank Baum's grandson gets his own Oz movie.

A friend suggested during a dinner party that Roger Baum – the great-grandson of Wizard Of Oz creator L. Frank Baum – should write a book based on the characters who live in the Land of Oz.

Roger Baum got past his initial misgivings and wrote Dorothy Of Oz in 1989. It's taken 25 years, but a film version of the book, the animated Legends Of Oz: Dorothy's Return, opens this coming Thursday.

"My initial reaction was a presumption that I could do it. Then I began to wonder if I could really do it. There are millions of Oz fans worldwide.

"My great-granddad's books have been translated into 72 different languages. I didn't want to insult my great-granddad, but I think it worked out OK," the 75-year-old Baum says.

Until four years ago, Baum didn't think the book would ever be made into a movie. He did suspect that if anyone was interested, it would be Alpine Pictures since the company had a quote from the introduction to L. Frank Baum's The Last Princess on its website: "A prominent educator tells me that fairy tales are of untold value in developing imagination in the young. I believe it."

The film company initially had no interest in Roger Baum's work, but it eventually opted to adapt the first book Baum ever wrote based on the Oz characters.

Fans of the Oz books will see familiar faces – Dorothy and Toto – but also new characters such as the wicked Jester (voiced by Martin Short), the heroic Marshal Mallow (Hugh Dancy), the wobbly owl Wiser (Oliver Platt) and the ancient tree Tugg (Patrick Stewart).

Baum's plan was to use the original characters from his grandfather's books to bridge his works to the original tales, but he then add new characters and events even if they didn't line up exactly with the original books.

"My great-granddad wrote 14 books and he never meant for them to be a series. But the kids kept asking for another one," Baum says. "Some of his books are contradictory. So I thought it was safer to add new characters. I also kept that all of the stories are about love, heart, wisdom and courage."

And just like his great-grandfather, Baum turned to the Flying Monkeys for the scary parts.

The adaptation of Dorothy Of Oz to script form, by Adam Balsam and Randi Barnes, included several changes. They moved the scenes of Dorothy in Kansas to a more modern time and had the evil Jester turn the people of Oz into marionettes instead of china dolls.

Baum had final script approval, but he was very cautious about suggesting changes to the early pages.

"You can change one thing at the beginning and it has a ripple effect. I found myself concentrating on the ending because those were simple to manoeuvre and change. The important thing was that good wins over evil," Baum says.

He understands why so many people love the books his great-grandfather wrote because his parents read him the books every night.

L. Frank Baum died 19 years before Roger Baum was born, but he heard lots of stories about his great-grandfather.

"I hope this is a compliment to my great-granddad," Baum says. "It was a scary proposition but also my honour."

Legends Of Oz: Dorothy's Return opens in cinemas nationwide on June 5.

Très Jolie effect: Angelina through the years

Posted: 28 May 2014 09:00 AM PDT

Angelina Jolie has grown from being gothic and rebellious to becoming one of the most powerful and graceful women in Hollywood. Let's chart her maturity through her projects.

The Rock 'N' Roll Dreams Come Through (1994)

Before Jolie got herself onto the A-list, she was cast next to Meatloaf for this music video. Check it out: She's only 19, but there's no mistaking those lips and her eyes.

Hackers (1995)

This was the film in which Jolie met her first husband, British actor Jonny Lee Miller (now starring in the TV series Elementary). They were married shortly after the movie was done, and divorced four years later.

Gia (1998)

Jolie took on the challenging part of 1980s supermodel Gia Carangi, who rose to the top of the fashion world as quickly as she was struck down by her untimely death at age 26. For her effort, Jolie won a Golden Globe and received an Emmy nomination.

Pushing Tin (1999)

Jolie met her second husband, much older US actor Billy Bob Thornton, in this film. In their brief marriage, they provided fodder for the tabloids with their unusual public displays of affections (for example, wearing vials of each other's blood). They divorced in 2003 after four years.

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

Jolie won her first Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress with this film. She was lauded for portraying a mental patient with passion and insight, although her sanity was in question at the Oscars when she kissed her older brother James Haven on the lips, leaving him in tears during her acceptance speech and raising the eyebrows of everyone watching.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Fanboys finally learned that Jolie was as adept in action sequences as she was in dramatics, and this was the start of many action movies she would make. The film was a hit, despite Jolie's terrible British accent, as Lara Croft proved she was no archaeologist by trampling all things ancient.

Mr & Mrs Smith (2005)

Another film, another "husband". Brad Pitt's marriage to Jennifer Aniston was falling apart when Jolie met him on the set of this hit film. Yes, that fact is arguable, but there was a sex scene that had to be deleted for the film to earn it a PG-13 rating. You decide.

A Mighty Heart (2007)

Pitt produced this movie based on real events that shocked the world. Jolie took on the part of French freelance journalist Mariane Pearl, who went in search of her husband Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, when he was kidnapped (and ultimately murdered) by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002.

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Though Jolie did give her voice to another animated film, 2004's Shark Tale, she sounds much better here as the fearsome warrior-cat Tigress. She was also in the sequel Kung Fu Panda 2 and two other related short films, Kung Fu Panda Holiday and Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters.

Changeling (2008)

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film based on real events received three Oscar nominations, including one for Jolie in the Best Actress category. The film stars Jolie as a working single mum in California in the 1920s, who is reunited with her missing son (by a corrupt police force) only to realise he is an impostor.

In The Land Of Blood And Honey (2011)

After directing the documentary, Jolie went on to direct this war drama set during the Bosnian War.

Unbroken (2014)

Other than Maleficent, Jolie has another movie this year that she directed. The feature film, scripted by Joel and Ethan Coen, chronicles the life of Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic track star who survived a plane crash in the Pacific theater, spent 47 days drifting on a raft, and then more than two and a half years as a prisoner of war in several brutal Japanese internment camps. 

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro


Pakistan ruling party MP kidnapped

Posted: 31 May 2014 07:04 AM PDT

LAHORE, Pakistan: A provincial lawmaker from Pakistan's ruling party has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom, police said Saturday.

Rana Jameel Hassan of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N party was kidnapped on a motorway near the eastern town of Sargodha early Saturday as he returned from a funeral with his wife, police and relatives said.

"The kidnappers followed him in a car and took him away leaving his wife behind at Rawalpindi and asked her to arrange about 300,000 dollars (ransom money) in three days," the lawmaker's brother Rana Wakeel Hassan told AFP.

Senior police official Ahmed Ishaq Jehangir confirmed the kidnapping and said that police had begun an investigation.

A family source quoted the wife of the kidnapped MP as saying that when kidnappers followed them her husband sped away, but the abductors rammed their car to stop them.

She said that the armed men, who spoke the Pashto language of northwestern Pakistan, had blindfolded the pair, before dropping her near the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The chief minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, who is also the younger brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has ordered the police to immediately recover Hassan.

The MP represents the eastern Nankana Sahib district in Punjab provincial assembly.

Islamist militants have in the past used hostages as bargaining chips to try to obtain the release of Taliban prisoners and also for ransom. -AFP

Roadside bomb kills 12 civilians in eastern Afghanistan

Posted: 31 May 2014 12:46 AM PDT

GHAZNI, Afghanistan: A roadside bomb killed 12 civilians, including seven women in eastern Afghanistan Saturday, officials said, the latest violence in the country as US-led troops prepare to leave after 13 years of war.

The victims were travelling in Giro district of Ghazni province after a wedding ceremony when the bomb ripped through their vehicle, district governor Abdullah Khairkhwah told AFP.

"Twelve civilians were killed, seven of them were women, and the rest were men, as their minivan vehicles hit a roadside bomb," Khairkhwah said.

He added that two other civilians were also wounded in the explosion.

The district governor said the death toll might rise.

Ghazni provincial governor spokesman Shafiq Nang confirmed the incident.

Roadside bombs are commonly used by Taliban insurgents to target Afghan and foreign forces but often cause casualties to civilians.

Attacks that kill civilians usually go unclaimed and there was no immediate admission of responsibility for the deaths.

Afghanistan is in the middle of presidential elections, with former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani due to compete in a head-to-head run-off vote next month.

Both candidates have promised to bring peace after decades of conflict. But they will have to tackle security without NATO combat troops, all 51,000 of whom will pull out by the end of this year. -AFP

Six 'cult' members held over China McDonald's death

Posted: 31 May 2014 12:42 AM PDT

SHANGHAI: Chinese police have detained six people for beating to death a woman at a McDonald's restaurant who refused to disclose her phone number, accusing them of being members of a religious cult, state media said Saturday.

The woman became involved in an argument with the six people, including a juvenile, who then allegedly beat her on Wednesday evening in Zhaoyuan city in Shandong province, the official Xinhua news agency said.

They were seeking to recruit the woman into a "evil cult" called Quannengshen, it said.

The group, which can be translated as Church of Almighty God, is a doomsday cult which was outlawed by the government in the mid-1990s, according to media reports.

Photos circulating on social media showed the woman wearing a white shirt and blue trousers lying face down in a pool of blood. She died after being taken to hospital, Xinhua said.

The six suspects included a man, his two daughters and a son, as well as two women, it said. The case of the juvenile, who media reports said was a 12-year-old boy, would be handled separately as he was below the age of criminal responsibility.

In a separate statement released on its official China microblog, McDonald's expressed "deep-felt grief" and pledged to investigate the matter.

China outlawed another group it labelled as an "evil cult", the spiritual movement Falungong, in the 1990s and has since detained tens of thousands of members. The group says its members are tortured for refusing to give up their beliefs. -AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Nation

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: Nation


Najib tells embassy to go to Hadi’s aid in Istanbul

Posted: 31 May 2014 09:00 AM PDT

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has instructed the Malaysian embassy in Istanbul to provide the necessary support for PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, who has been hospitalised with breathing difficulties.

"I was informed that DS Hadi Awang was warded in Istanbul Hospital. I have called the embassy this morning to ensure he receives the necessary support," Najib tweeted yesterday.

It was reported earlier that Hadi was rushed to the hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties during his Turkey trip. PAS information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar told the party news portal Harakahdaily that the 66-year-old Marang MP was now under observation.

According to Mahfuz, Hadi was expected to be back on June 4.

Meanwhile, Hadi's son and PAS Youth deputy chief Khalil Abdul Hadi was quoted as saying that the party president was in stable condition.

Duo not tortured in Jolo

Posted: 31 May 2014 09:00 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: Abu Sayyaf gunmen did not torture or abuse Chinese national Gao Huayun (pic right) and Filipina resort worker Marcy Dayawan @ Mimi during their 58 days of captivity in the jungles of Jolo.

However, Mimi, 40, was constantly threatened with being beheaded if Gao's family did not pay the ransom for their freedom within 20 days of their calls.

It is learned that the women, who were handed over to an Abu Sayyaf group for a fee by a Tawi Tawi-based kidnap-for-ransom group, were constantly guarded by at least 40 gunmen after they were taken straight to Jolo.

They were not harmed and were given daily meals of rice and fish but only got a serving of vegetables once during their captivity.

After weeks of negotiations, mediators secured the release of 29-year-old Gao and Mimi on Friday at about 11.30am. They were then brought from Jolo to Sandakan at 4.30pm before being flown to Kota Kinabalu where they were debriefed.

The two left for Kuala Lumpur early yesterday; while Gao flew immediately back to Shanghai, police were looking into travel documentation for Mimi before sending her back to the Philip­pines.

Both the women, who often cried during captivity, had never thought they would be released one day and were thankful for their freedom.

It was learned that there was a third woman with them but they were unsure whether she was a hostage or part of the group.

The heavily armed Abu Sayyaf men, ranging from teenagers to men in their 40s, kept a close watch on the hostages in the forested area within a village in Jolo.

On April 2, Gao and Mimi were grabbed by seven armed men in a small pumpboat from Singamata Reef Resort in Semporna before they were transferred to a high-powered boat and taken straight to Jolo.

They were taken to a jungle area but three days later when the Philippines army helicopters were heard hovering over the area they moved deeper in­­land, where they remained until their rescue, it was learned.

While Gao was reunited with her family in China yesterday, Mimi's fate remains unknown as her family, including her parents, have not returned to their home at Kampung Perigi in Semporna town.

Neighbours said they had not seen her family members who had been initially detained as police pursued the possibility of a link between them and the kidnappers.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said yesterday that police had released the family members after questioning.

He added, however, they were still investigating whether Mimi had any links to the kidnapping. Both state police and Bukit Aman have recorded statements from Gao and Mimi.

"If we are sure that Mimi was not in­vol­ved, she will be sent back to her family in the Philippines," he said when contacted.

With Gao and Mimi's release, police have been able to get a better picture of the groups involved in the kidnapping and steps are underway to secure the release of another Chinese national, Yong Zai Lin, 34, who was grabbed by crossborder gunmen from the Wonder Terrace Fish Farm in Lahad Datu on May 9. He was the manager of the fish farm owned by a Hong Kong businessman.

Sources said that although they believed the same gang kidnapped Yong and the women, it was ano­ther Abu Sayyaf group who was holding the manager.

Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman thanked all parties, inclu­ding Malaysian security forces and their counterparts in the Philip­pines for helping secure the release of the hostages.

"This was a complex operation that required coordinated intelligence work and cooperation at many levels. I also wish to remind our security forces to continuously be vigilant to ensure there are no more such untoward incidents," he added.

Family elated with release

Posted: 31 May 2014 09:00 AM PDT

PETALING JAYA: Family members of the Shanghai woman, who was abducted from the Singamata Reef Resort in Semporna on April 2 and released on Friday after 58 days in captivity, are elated by her return.

Gao Huayun's aunt told the Shanghai Morning Post that the family found out about her release on Friday night.

"We do not have the details yet. Gao's parents have already contacted all their relatives and we are all very happy," said the aunt who was not identified.

At a meeting with China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had informed Xi of Gao's release.

Najib later tweeted he had been briefed by Malaysian police on the matter and that no ransom had been paid by the Malaysian authorities for her release.

When the Shanghai Morning Post reporter visited the apartment in Shanghai where Gao's parents lived on Friday night, the apartment was locked.

According to the neighbours, Gao's pa­­rents had moved out of the apartment following the incident to evade the press.

"All of the neighbours are also overjoyed to hear the news. After being captured for so many days, she is finally coming home," said a neighbour.

Local reports have said that since Gao was taken to the isolated islands in southern Philippines, the abductors had allowed Gao's parents to speak to her on a daily basis.

The Shanghai Morning Post also reported that 18 hours after the abduction, Gao spoke to her mother on the phone telling her that her abductors had demanded about 15 million yuan (RM7.9mil) for her release.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music


Exclusive album stream: Clean Bandit's 'New Eyes' *is* the sound of Summer 2014

Posted: 29 May 2014 01:45 AM PDT

Listen to a stream of latest UK music sensation Clean Bandit's debut album New Eyes exclusive to The Star Online, courtesy of Warner Music. 

When Clean Bandit first got into the music scene, record labels refused to sign the quartet dismissing them as a joke. But when the group's breakout single Rather Be hit over 52 million views on YouTube and then topped the UK Singles Chart earlier this year, it became obvious who had the final laugh.

As their current single Extraordinary burns up the UK and international charts, one can't miss the band's fusion of classical stringed instruments with electronic beats. Odd though they may sound on paper, the band's music somehow manages to hit all the right notes among music fans.

Clean Bandit: (From left) Luke Patterson, Jack Patterson, Grace Chatto, and Milan Neil Amin-Smith.

Formed in Cambridge in 2009, Clean Bandit is made up of bassist/keyboardist Jack Patterson, drummer Luke Patterson, cellist Grace Chatto and violinist Neil Amin-Smith. Ahead of the worldwide release of their debut album New Eyes on June 2, Chatto was more than excited to share her enthusiasm for the band's major project.

Clean Bandit doesn't have a lead singer. How do you decide and choose the vocalist for your tracks?

"It always comes about in different ways. The first vocalist we worked with, Love Ssega (featured on Mozart's House and Telephone Banking) was a friend of ours and we did a lot of live shows with him there too. Then Jack met Eliza Shaddad (featured on Birch and UK Shanty), when she was busking with her guitar in Shoreditch. Jack fell in love with her voice and asked her to do some writing together. Then Nikki Cyslin, who sings on A&E and Nightingale, we met through our studio space: South Kilburn Studios. She has now written the vocal line and appeared on a Gorgon City track too. Jess Glynne (from Rather Be), we heard on the Route 94 track My Love and thought her voice was perfect for the song we'd written.

Your songs are so diverse. Will there be any surprises in the album?

"I really hope so! We work with different vocalists on every song, so each track takes on a completely different feel. For example, we worked on a song with the reggae singer Stylo G and the Jamaican influences in the instrumental are pretty obvious.

We can't help but notice that the Clean Bandit members all have different degrees – from architecture to Russian. Did this help with the creative process or cause disagreements?

"It definitely does! Musically, we are on a similar wavelength as we have played together for such a long time. It's important outside of writing too. Neil is a DJ, so we are introduced to a lot of new music from him. Luke is a skateboarder, and without this, a lot of the shots in our videos would not have been possible."

The cover image for Clean Bandit's debut album New Eyes, to be released worldwide on June 2.

Clean Bandit directs its own music videos. Do you think it's important for an artist to control the visual aspect of the music?

"It's really important for us to keep that control. We try and see each project as a whole – the video and music having equal importance. I think Jack would find it impossible to relinquish control over either!"

So why are videos now as important as music?

For us, what we see is just as interesting as what we hear, and the way the two relate is all-important. We always seem to come up with visual ideas at the same time as writing music (or sometimes even before!) and the two are inseparable.

Check out the exclusive stream below of the entire Clean Bandit New Eyes album before its official release on June 2 right here on The Star Online. Courtesy of Warner Music. 

'Metal Knight': Christopher 'Saruman' Lee releases metal album at 92

Posted: 29 May 2014 01:05 AM PDT

Screen legend Christopher Lee celebrates his 92nd birthday by releasing a heavy metal mini-album entitled Metal Knight.

The actor, known to younger fans for his portrayal of Saruman in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, is a long-time devotee of heavy metal – a genre partly inspired by the horror films he starred in earlier in his career – and already has several album releases under his belt. He turned 92 on May 27. 

"I associate heavy metal with fantasy because of the tremendous power that the music delivers," explained Lee, who possesses a booming, classically-trained bass voice, and is probably the oldest metal performer in rock history.

Man of metal: Christopher Lee (above), best known to younger film fans as Saruman in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, is also a metal beast. Celebrating his 92nd birthday, the actor who was knighted by Prince Charles in 2009, released Metal Knight (below), a mini-album of covers from the Man Of La Mancha, Carmen and Frank Sinatra's My Way

Cementing his credentials within the rock community, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi presented the star with the Spirit of Metal prize at the Golden Gods Awards in 2010 for his services to metal music. In December last year, the actor became the oldest ever performer to place in the US Billboard singles chart with his record Jingle Hell.

Metal Knight features four tracks and three alternative edits. Two songs are from the Man of La Mancha musical: I, Don Quixote and The Impossible Dream. The others are The Toreador March from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, in its original French, and My Way, popularised by Frank Sinatra.

"As far as I am concerned, Don Quixote is the most metal fictional character that I know," said Lee. "Single handed, he is trying to change the world, regardless of any personal consequences. It is a wonderful character to sing". – AFP/RelaxNews

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Metro: South & East

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: Metro: South & East


Pakistan ruling party MP kidnapped

Posted: 31 May 2014 07:04 AM PDT

LAHORE, Pakistan: A provincial lawmaker from Pakistan's ruling party has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom, police said Saturday.

Rana Jameel Hassan of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N party was kidnapped on a motorway near the eastern town of Sargodha early Saturday as he returned from a funeral with his wife, police and relatives said.

"The kidnappers followed him in a car and took him away leaving his wife behind at Rawalpindi and asked her to arrange about 300,000 dollars (ransom money) in three days," the lawmaker's brother Rana Wakeel Hassan told AFP.

Senior police official Ahmed Ishaq Jehangir confirmed the kidnapping and said that police had begun an investigation.

A family source quoted the wife of the kidnapped MP as saying that when kidnappers followed them her husband sped away, but the abductors rammed their car to stop them.

She said that the armed men, who spoke the Pashto language of northwestern Pakistan, had blindfolded the pair, before dropping her near the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The chief minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, who is also the younger brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has ordered the police to immediately recover Hassan.

The MP represents the eastern Nankana Sahib district in Punjab provincial assembly.

Islamist militants have in the past used hostages as bargaining chips to try to obtain the release of Taliban prisoners and also for ransom. -AFP

Roadside bomb kills 12 civilians in eastern Afghanistan

Posted: 31 May 2014 12:46 AM PDT

GHAZNI, Afghanistan: A roadside bomb killed 12 civilians, including seven women in eastern Afghanistan Saturday, officials said, the latest violence in the country as US-led troops prepare to leave after 13 years of war.

The victims were travelling in Giro district of Ghazni province after a wedding ceremony when the bomb ripped through their vehicle, district governor Abdullah Khairkhwah told AFP.

"Twelve civilians were killed, seven of them were women, and the rest were men, as their minivan vehicles hit a roadside bomb," Khairkhwah said.

He added that two other civilians were also wounded in the explosion.

The district governor said the death toll might rise.

Ghazni provincial governor spokesman Shafiq Nang confirmed the incident.

Roadside bombs are commonly used by Taliban insurgents to target Afghan and foreign forces but often cause casualties to civilians.

Attacks that kill civilians usually go unclaimed and there was no immediate admission of responsibility for the deaths.

Afghanistan is in the middle of presidential elections, with former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani due to compete in a head-to-head run-off vote next month.

Both candidates have promised to bring peace after decades of conflict. But they will have to tackle security without NATO combat troops, all 51,000 of whom will pull out by the end of this year. -AFP

Six 'cult' members held over China McDonald's death

Posted: 31 May 2014 12:42 AM PDT

SHANGHAI: Chinese police have detained six people for beating to death a woman at a McDonald's restaurant who refused to disclose her phone number, accusing them of being members of a religious cult, state media said Saturday.

The woman became involved in an argument with the six people, including a juvenile, who then allegedly beat her on Wednesday evening in Zhaoyuan city in Shandong province, the official Xinhua news agency said.

They were seeking to recruit the woman into a "evil cult" called Quannengshen, it said.

The group, which can be translated as Church of Almighty God, is a doomsday cult which was outlawed by the government in the mid-1990s, according to media reports.

Photos circulating on social media showed the woman wearing a white shirt and blue trousers lying face down in a pool of blood. She died after being taken to hospital, Xinhua said.

The six suspects included a man, his two daughters and a son, as well as two women, it said. The case of the juvenile, who media reports said was a 12-year-old boy, would be handled separately as he was below the age of criminal responsibility.

In a separate statement released on its official China microblog, McDonald's expressed "deep-felt grief" and pledged to investigate the matter.

China outlawed another group it labelled as an "evil cult", the spiritual movement Falungong, in the 1990s and has since detained tens of thousands of members. The group says its members are tortured for refusing to give up their beliefs. -AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: World Updates


Italy rescues more than 3,500 migrants, Renzi asks for help

Posted: 31 May 2014 10:03 AM PDT

ROME (Reuters) - Italian navy patrol ships rescued more than 3,500 migrants including hundreds of women and children from boats coming from North Africa, authorities said on Saturday, while Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called for help from the European Union.

The rescues, which the coast guard said have been going on since Friday evening, are the latest in a seemingly endless succession as the chronic migrant crisis in the southern Mediterranean has picked up this year.

A total of 3,612 migrants from Syria and North Africa were picked up from 11 boats and taken to ports in Sicily and the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, a coastguard spokesman told Reuters.

Some 43,000 people have crossed from North Africa to Italy so far this year, the same amount as in the whole of 2013, the coastguard said.

That leaves the annual total set to surpass the 60,000 who made the trip in 2011 when the Arab Spring revolutions loosened border controls, according to the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.

The near daily arrivals of migrant boats, mostly leaving from ports in Libya, was an issue in Italy in the European parliamentary elections on Sunday.

The anti-immigrant Northern League, which had lost much of its support over the last two years due to corruption scandals and leadership changes, recovered to win more than 6 percent of the vote.

Renzi said in an interview with several European newspapers on Saturday that the European Union and the United Nations were not doing enough to help Italy handle the surge of migrants.

"Europe has to call on the United Nations to intervene in Libya and more generally it must show a capacity to manage the immigration phenomenon," he was quoted as saying in the Italian daily La Stampa.

(Reporting By Gavin Jones; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

Turkish police fire teargas against protesters on anniversary of mass demos

Posted: 31 May 2014 10:02 AM PDT

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police on Saturday used teargas in central Istanbul to disperse protesters seeking to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of the biggest anti-government demonstrations in decades.

Several hundred people gathered on streets leading to Taksim Square, shouting for the government's resignation, when police fired teargas at the crowd, which quickly scattered.

Earlier in the day, authorities closed roads and public transportation to deny access to Taksim to prevent demonstrations. Efforts to save a park at Taksim from government development plans sparked last year's unrest.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Wriging by Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Pravin Char)

Six Ukranian separatists killed around Donetsk airport

Posted: 31 May 2014 10:01 AM PDT

DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukrainian separatist leader Denis Pushilin said on Saturday six rebels had been killed while trying to collect the bodies of comrades who had died under Ukrainian army fire earlier this week close to Donetsk airport.

Ukrainian forces regained control of the airport in the east of the country on Monday, killing at least 50 separatists, after a Sunday presidential election which gave billionaire Petro Poroshenko an overwhelming victory.

It was the first time the Ukrainian side had unleashed its full force on the pro-Russian two-month rebellion, caused partly by the ouster of a Moscow-friendly president and the annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russian troops.

"They died trying to take back the Ukrainian airport, and our boys were trying to get their bodies out," Pushilin said over the telephone, without giving further details of the violence. He said the six had died during the day on Friday.

Though fighting has died down for now in Donetsk, the stand-off over the city airport remained unresolved on Saturday with amateur video footage showing a cargo plane taking off and releasing decoy flares as it was fired at from the ground.

Regional newsagency Interfax cited the prime minister of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic as saying the separatists will ask the International Red Cross to remove corpses by the aiport. It was unclear how many remained.

A spokesman for the Kiev-led "Anti-terrorist operation" or ATO said earlier in the day two new attacks on the airport had been repelled by Ukrainian forces with no injuries to their side, Interfax reported. It was not clear whether the attacks were in fact attempts by separatists to clear bodies.

In Donetsk itself, 2,000 people gathered in the city's central Lenin Square on Saturday, waving Russian flags and chanting "Russia! Russia!" in support of the self-proclaimed republic, which has sought help from Moscow.

"I have no other objective but to make Donbass a part of Russia," said Alexander Boroday, the self-styled prime minister of the republic, referring to a wider eastern Ukrainian region containing heavy industry, coalmining and steel works.

Further away from the city centre, rebels built up two new barricades overnight: by the sprawling residence of multi-billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, the country's richest man, and by the headquarters of the heavily armed, pro-Russian Battalion Vostok militia.

At a cemetery in the adjacent town of Makievka, 10 rebels fired into the air to honour their commrade, Vasily Burov, 46, killed on Thursday in a firefight with the Ukrainian army.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Donetsk and Natalya Zinets in Kiev; Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Peter Graff)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my
 

The Star Online

Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved