Scorpenes: More funds needed to dig deeper, says SUARAM

The RM250,000 raised by human rights NGO Suaram's fund raising events last month is expected to fall short of the total legal cost needed for the case it is pursuing at the French courts over the Malaysian government's purchase of two submarines.

This is despite the fact that the funds raised far surpasses the NGO's initial “modest” target of RM100,000, which it intended as a start-up fund.

Speaking to reporters at Petaling Jaya today, Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel said it is expected that the "overwhelming" donated amount would only cover the initial stages of the case.

Malaysian Aids Council confirms 'church' dinner was for AIDS

The Malaysian Aids Council (MAC) today rose to Harapan Komuniti's support, saying that the NGO's dinner raided by the Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) on Wednesday was actually a fundraiser for HIV/AIDS support programmes.

This is despite Selangor state exco Hasan Ali claiming that Jais had found evidence of "proselytisation" during the event.

In a statement today, its president Mohd Zaman Khan said that the dinner was organised by the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) to raise funds for the MAC partner organisation at its premises.

Murder of Vet Dept deputy director solved, four arrested

IPOH - The murder of Perak Veterinary Services Department deputydirector Dr Rohani Kasim has been solved with the arrests of four suspects, including an army personnel and a postman.

Perak deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Zakaria Yusof said the last suspect, 22, was picked up at 10.25pm in Slim River on Thursday.

Japanese pop star sacked over sex scandal

Japanese pop singer Aya Hirano is believed to have been dropped from her label, Lantis, because of an alleged sex scandal.

This follows after the latest edition of Japanese magazine Bubka published pictures of the 24-year-old J-pop star in bed with a band mate. The photos are presumed to have been taken 'post sex'.

Netizens and observers believe the man in the photos is her 35-year-old guitarist, Katsundo.

Insider information revealed that Aya slept with a total of three of her band mates except the bassist. They too have reportedly been dropped from the label.

Rumours of the scandal first emerged early this year. In February, fans of the anime 'Kizumonogatari' launched a petition to have Aya removed from a role she was supposed to play.

They said the scandal-hit voice actress would have ruined the image of the character.

An anonymous post on Japanese website 2ch.net several months ago said:

"Hirano's had three of her four Lantis band members. Her approaches became so problematic she was reported to the agency boss for excessively aggressive courting. The agency then dropped Lantis."

"I heard it from someone close to a Lantis employee - though I doubt any of you lot will believe me in any case."

"I don't remember too well as it was a year ago, but as I recall the only one she didn't do was the bassist. I do recall that the president fired the other three."

Aya first announced on her Twitter in May that she was no longer with Lantis.

Najib facing pressure to resign as UMNO rebel group 'meets'

A series of scandals and mishandlings have resulted in yet another movement within UMNO seeking to oust its current president, in the same way Abdullah Badawi was forced to resign following BN's poor performance in the 2008 elections.

At the centre of this latest rebellion, said to be spearheaded by several senior party warlords, is the deep disenchantment with not only prime minister Najib Razak but also his wife Rosmah Mansor, described BN's greatest liability in the coming general elections.

2 firms, 2 Scorpenes and a path of death and corruption

French naval ship builder DCNS seems to be a favourite of the Malaysian Defence Ministry and is lead consultant for Malaysia’s own upstart company to build naval vessels - Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd.

Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) is a young start-up, which had its beginnings as PSC-Naval Dockyard (a sub-company of Penang Shipbuilding Corporation).

It was in 2005, after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) brought to light gross management irregularities in PSC-Naval Dockyard's handling of the building and delivery of the New Generation Patrol Vessels (NGPV) for the Royal Malaysian Navy, that a major revamp was put into place to salvage the NGPV project.

Under the intervention of the Malaysian Government, a new management team was put in place and the project was revived. Boustead Holding Bhd, also a GLC, took up a 37% stake in PSC, becoming the single largest shareholder. As a division of PSC, PSC-ND therefore merged into Boustead Holding Bhd and renamed under Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd.

Rosmah's spending shocks women groups: Saddened by unkept promises

Sarawak PKR Women's wing is demanding answers on why money is being "extravagantly" spent by the Prime Minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, when issues like the Penan rape cases and the rural children’s education were still nowhere near being solved.

The PKR women are still reeling from news reports about Rosmah's alleged purchase of a RM24.4 million diamond ring and another RM24 million that was spent on hosting a three-day “First Ladies Summit” in Malaysia with the theme, ‘A child today, a leader tomorrow’. The summit drew a total of 15 First Ladies, mostly from Africa.

Anwar: BN bent on jailing me before elections

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said the Barisan Nasional government was bent on ensuring he would not contest the next general election by convicting him on fabricated charges of sodomy.

“They would convict me before the elections, to deny me participating in the elections,” he said in an interview with Phillipine's The Philippine Star.

10 most beautiful executed Chinese criminals

1. Ren Xue tricked her lover's daughter out and killed her after her lover kept her as a waitress instead of a better job.

Malaysian PM's wife draws flak

The surat layang – “flying letters” in Malay, or anonymous assaults -- have been flying in record numbers in recent weeks, attacking Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. They are being picked up and spread in volume by the country’s blogosphere, much of it arrayed against the Barisan Nasional, or ruling national coalition.

It isn’t certain who is behind the attacks, but they are clearly tied to national elections expected either late this year or early in 2012. The opposition and the dominant United Malays National Organization are blaming each other and both saying they aren’t involved. But the 60-year-old Rosmah has become a lightning rod for criticism of the administration, most of it centering on her alleged profligacy and her reported dominance of her husband’s political and social agenda. The attacks compare her to both Shakespeare’s Lady MacBeth, who drove her husband to murder and tragedy, and to former Filipino First Lady Imelda Marcos, who gained fame for her extravagance including owning hundreds of pairs of shoes.

More ominously, as Asia Sentinel has reported, she has been the subject of rumors for several years that she somehow was involved in the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, to the extent that a businessman close to her allegedly paid a witness RM750,000 to get out of the country after he said the dead woman had an affair with her husband. In addition, court testimony has indicated that she met with a former aide to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim prior to the aide’s accusing Anwar of raping him.

Nude travel host for Japanese TV show

Seems like television producers worldwide are desperate to boost their ratings!

First there were nude weather girls in Russia, then nude cooking hosts in Hong Kong and now nude travel hosts in Japan!

Apparently television producers have gotten an AV model to host the show featuring hot springs!

Wonder what show is going be hosted in the nude next?

A Japanese TV show has hired a porn star to host its programme in the nude.

Since the revamp to the already-aired TV show recently, the rating for Let's Go to the Spa More! shot up like a rocket.

Aimed at promoting hot springs throughout Japan, the programme was first introduced to the audiences of all ages in 2000, under the name Go to the Spa!.

Then in 2008, the show took a daring change by featuring the female host wearing only a towel and its name was changed to Let's Go to the New Spa!. The rating increased a little after that.

Then in this latest revamped show, whose name has been changed again to Let's Go to the Spa More!, an AV (adult video) actress was recruited to strip in it, boosting the ratings to a new high.

The programme, which airs on Fuji TV, shows the host removing her clothing one by one and then entering the hot springs naked.

Although it is aired late night, some people have complained about it being "too erotic".

Man had sex with runaway teens

A MAN has been jailed for two years for plying three teenage Sunshine Coast schoolgirl runaways with drugs and alcohol then having sex with two of them at a Brisbane inner-city apartment.

The Brisbane Supreme Court was told Darren Jeffrey Benton and his mate, Aleksander Piotr Grabowski, supplied the high school students - aged 13 to 14 - with marijuana and spirits alcohol at a Kangaroo Point unit on May 19, 2009.

Bomb strapped to teen heiress

POLICE are trying to defuse a bomb strapped to a teenage girl at a multimillion dollar house at Burrawong Avenue in Mosman, Sydney.

The drama unfolded at 2.40pm this afternoon when an 18-year-old girl called police to the mansion "following discovery of a suspicious device", The Daily Telegraph reported.

Police used chilli to torture detainees

Eight Philippine police officers have been detained for allegedly force-feeding trainees with chillies and rubbing the pungent red fruit on the victims' genitals, officials said.

The Ugly Muslim: Racist ads dishonour Ramadan, not just the Chinese

Media Prima Bhd was forced to axe a controversial series of Ramadan commercials on its 8TV channel following heavy public criticism and claims that the advertisements were racist in nature.

Media Prima chief operating officer Ahmad Izham Omar announced the decision after coming under heavy fire from the public. He also tried to deflect criticism by asking people to “chill” and not to “overanalyse” the commercial, which advises non-Muslims how to behave during Ramadan. Released as a public service announcement on 8TV, the three commercials depict a socially-inept “Chinese” girl eating in public, wearing revealing clothing and being loud and obnoxious during the Muslim fasting month.

Penawar denies calling for Najib to step down

KUALA LUMPUR -  Penawar, which groups former Umno elected representatives, has denied reports that it wants Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down as prime minister.

Its president Tan Sri Abd Aziz Shamsuddin told reporters today that the body formed in December 2009, “did not and has never” called for Najib to step down.

S'porean who fled to M'sia dies under detention

A Singaporean man facing death penalty in Malaysia has died after complaining of abdominal pain, Sin Chew Daily reported.

Lai Poh Yong, 63, was picked up by Johor police in January for drug offences. He was transferred on Monday from Air Molek Prison to a hospital where he died the next day. He is believed to have died of bacterial infection.

Lai had been jailed in Singapore for over 10 years before he came to Malaysia, a friend told reporters at the morgue on Tuesday.

He also said Lai had left Singapore 11 years ago to evade the police there, but no details were given.

It is also not clear why Lai was wanted by Singapore authorities.

Lai's body would be taken back to Singapore after an autopsy. He leaves behind a wife and two teenage children.

"Biggest joke" MCA blames MB Khalid, Teresa Kok for DU church raid

As expected, the MCA is going for racial blood. Fresh from an attack against Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for awarding only 2 contracts to Chinese firms, the party is now gunning for Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim.

MCA vice president Gan Ping Sieu blamed the latest raid conducted  by the police and the Selangor religious authorities or JAIS on the Pakatan Rakyat state administration.

"Allowing this to take place during the holy month of Ramadhan makes it all the more shameful on the part of Pakatan Rakyat. All along, the three-party Pakatan Rakyat has made a mockery of Barisan Nasional's 1Malaysia concept but last night's raid again brought to the fore the coalition's narrow-mindedness and parochial inclinations," Gan said in a statement on Thursday.

BN season for racial, religious politicking begins: DU church raided

It looks like the season for racial and religious politicking has begun. Prime Minister Najib Razak has given it the flag-off as his UMNO party looks to draw Malay voters closer to its fold ahead of snap general elections widely expected to be held within the October-November period.

Police and the religious authorities in Selangor, a state which Najib is under tremendous pressure to regain, raided a multi-racial dinner held at Dream Centre building, which also houses the Damansara Utama Methodist Church, based on a vague complaint. The building has many dinner event and seminar rooms apart from the ccordinchurch hall.

BBC suspends FBC shows, CNN denies paid for Najib interview

KUALA LUMPUR - US-based broadcaster CNN has denied it was paid to interview Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak but questions remain about the role played by its anchor John Defterios after the latter’s FBC Media programme World Business was axed yesterday by rival network CNBC.

The spotlight is on the relationship between FBC Media — the British publicity firm led by media giant Alan Friedman with Defterios (picture) still listed as its group president — and broadcasters like CNBC, CNN and the BBC.

Jakarta paper claims PM’s future in-law has ties to Russian mafia

KUALA LUMPUR - Indonesia’s top newspaper alleged today that the Kazakh mother of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s future son-in-law is linked to the Russian mafia.

Kompas, the most widely-read newspaper in Indonesia, published a column today that also questioned whether the controversies surrounding Rosmah would lead to “change and democratisation in Malaysia.”

Malaysians, Arise: BN is cheating us of our voting rights. Stop them NOW

In response to Bersih, the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, the Election Commission has stridently maintained that its voter rolls are clean and elections are conducted in a free and fair manner. Prime Minister Najib has also gone around saying there is no need for Bersih because elections are always free and fair in Malaysia. Right thinking Malaysians know better and have learned to discount these platitudes with a smirk.

Now we have further proof that elections in Malaysia are anything but free and fair. In fact the 13th general election may be the dirtiest ever. PAS has uncovered hard evidence of a plot to stuff the electoral rolls with foreigners given instant citizenship. It is breathtaking in its audacity and totally unconscionable in disregarding social consequences. Is BN so desperate to win that it is willing to barter the future of the country for another stint in power?

To Jakarta we go: The Rosmah ring, Kazakh mafia and Umno tussle

News of a RM24.4 million gargantuan diamond ring allegedly belonging to Prime Minister Najib Razak's wife has reached Indonesian shores. The republic's top newspaper, Kompas, in a rare editorial on the flamboyant Rosmah Mansor even reported the value of the ring as being worth US$24.4 million!

The newspaper also alleged that Nooryana Najib, the Malaysian first couple's 22-year daughter, was marrying into a family with links to the Russian mafia. According to Kompas, Nooryana's mother-in-law had ties to the European underworld.

Sensational reading but little of which has not been whispered around Malaysia. Firstly, the ring itself, which Rosmah dismissed as gossip that was not worth her attention, is believed to be part of Nooryana's dowry and a special gift to Rosmah, who is known for her ultra luxurious taste. Even before stories of the ring and a super-plush New York penthouse hit the headlines, Rosmah was frequently grilled by opposition lawmakers in Parliament for her excessive spending on overseas trips, often with large entourages on first class travel at public expense.

Chinese thieves use chopsticks to pick pocket

Skilful thieves in China are using the humble kuaizi or chopsticks to pinch mobiles phones and wallets from the pockets of unsuspecting people.

The ambidextrous bandits have been caught on camera targeting shoppers in busy marketplaces as well as commuters waiting at bus stops.

The CCTV footage catches the robbers striking their unwitting victims from behind, wielding their lightweight eating utensils with ease and precision.

In one video, the pickpocket lifts the coats of browsing shoppers before plucking their phones and wallets, making several failed attempts without being noticed.

Making no effort to disguise his actions from others, the thief also runs alongside a briskly walking man to take his wallet.

Some of the footage was filmed in Hangzhou in the country's east, but the problem has been reported elsewhere.

NZ woman’s hand cut off during sex

A NEW Zealand woman nearly died after her hand has accidentally severed during holiday sex on a yacht in Croatia.

The woman, 28, was having sex with a British man on a bathroom sink aboard the yacht when the sink broke, severing her hand when she fell, the Croatian Times reported.

"It appears they were engaged in a passionate act in the bathroom where at some stage the sink broke - leaving a jagged edge that severed the woman's hand when she fell to the floor," police spokesman Kraljevic Gudelj said.

"The young woman almost died, and was only saved after she was airlifted to hospital where doctors managed to reattach the severed limb. It had only been attached by a small amount of skin."

Police from the island of Hvar said the woman's hand was reattached during a six-hour operation in Split. Police were now trying to track down the Briton.

"We believe it was probably an accident but the British man has fled and the New Zealand girl is understandably hard to speak to at the moment. We want to track him down to find out his side of the story," Mr Gudelj said.

Singaporean attacked by Johor road bully

A SINGAPOREAN man's trip to Johor Bahru turned nasty barely minutes after crossing the causeway, as he was threatened and beaten with a metal pole by a road bully.

The 34-year-old, known only as Mr Fan, said the altercation on Sunday afternoon left him with bruises to his waist, arm and wrist, Chinese paper Shin Min Daily News reported.

Mr Fan was travelling to JB for a shopping trip with his wife, who was three months' pregnant and his one-year-old daughter.