'His hands were very sweaty'

There was panic in his eyes.

Pale and sweaty, the man hung on to the parapet.

Seconds later, he slipped from an elderly couple's grasp and plummeted seven storeys to his death.

There was nothing the couple could do to prevent the tragedy, which unfolded just outside their Choa Chu Kang flat.

The woman, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Han, recalled in Mandarin: "My husband and I tried to hold onto him.

Were the Scorpene costs deliberately understated to take the heat off Najib?

Amid accusations the government was shafting taxpayers with another dodgy transaction, the Defence ministry received an additional RM493.3 million in allocations this year, justifying the increase was needed to maintain the country’s two Scorpene submarines.

The additional amount raises the ministry’s total budget to whopping total of RM11 billion. "The main purpose is to maintain our Scorpene submarines as that expense was not included in the budget,” the Star quoted Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying.

Indeed, Ahmad Zahid has much to explaining to do. The submarines were purchased in 2002 when Najib Razak was the Defence minister and this is 2011, how come in the 9 years the submarines have been on the defence list of hardware, no-one had bothered to factor in the cost for maintaining the said equipment? Would it not be prudent to have foreseen the cost of maintenance and prepare early?

Controversy over Two Disabled Gays Who Were Kicked Out of Pool

An employee at a public swimming pool in eastern Kentucky was suspended for a week without pay after telling two disabled gay men to leave, city of Hazard officials said Saturday.

The suspended city employee Kim Haynes told investigators that the two men were engaged in an excessive display of affection June 10, and that he would have told any other couple to leave had he seen similar behavior. Haynes, however, also acknowledged he said “We don’t tolerate that kind of activity around here” and cited the Bible in an argument with Laura Quillen, a member of the social service group Mending Hearts, which was overseeing the group.

Quillen told investigators the men did nothing inappropriate.

According to a report released by city attorney Paul R. Collins, summing up the conflicting accounts, at least one witness saw the men “standing `man to man’ or `belly to belly’ in the pool, splashing each other with water and pushing each other under the water.” The witness “also said he observed them hug each other on at least one occasion” and give each other a kiss, the report said.

Pearlman and Haynes were not at work on Saturday and could not be reached by the newspaper for comment by telephone.

Meanwhile, dozens of people rallied at the pool Saturday in support of the gay men.

“It’s time that people stood up for people. It’s just the right thing to do,” Marsha Morgan from Leslie County told WYMT-TV.

Jordan Palmer, president of the Kentucky Equality Federation, said the men were discriminated against.

“There was not kissing, and there was nothing of that sort. One of them sat on the other’s knee and that was it,” said Jordan Palmer, president of the Kentucky Equality Federation.

The manager of the Hazard Pavilion also was reprimanded for unbecoming conduct, The Courier-Journal reported. Charlotte Pearlman used inappropriate and obscene language when declining comment to a television news crew, the city said.

The city also said new anti-discrimination signs will be posted at the pool, as well as signs warning against excessive public displays of affection.

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Police to probe why women were 'branded'

GEORGE TOWN: Penang police have initiated an internal investigation to find out why women arrested in an anti-vice raid in Pulau Tikus on Wednesday night had the letter "X" marked on their foreheads.

State police chief Datuk Ayub Yaakob said the practice was not part of the their normal standard operating procedure. He said the police did not adopt such practices as they did not want to embarrass suspects who were innocent until proven otherwise.

"The inspector-general of police has ordered an internal investigation into this matter and those found guilty will face disciplinary action.

"We understand the severity of this matter and why the people are unhappy about it."

The police have come under fire since Thursday after news and pictures of the branded women appeared in newspapers, which outraged several civil groups and women non-governmental organisations.

The NGOs have criticised the police for violating the women's human rights.

The 30 women, consisting of 29 Chinese nationals and one Vietnamese, were reportedly chained in groups, and each of them had an "X" marked on their foreheads after they were arrested in the raid at the entertainment outlet.

Some dailies also published a photograph of one of them with an "X" on her forehead.

Earlier, Ayub had defended the move, saying it was done to differentiate the women from the public.

He said some of the women had tried to escape, running into shops to buy clothes to change their appearance to blend in with other women.

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