Pak Samad: "Kalau dilayan sebagai insan, saya akan pertimbang"

KUALA LUMPUR:  Sasterawan Negara Datuk A Samad Said menegaskan beliau hanya akan memberi kerjasama kepada polis berhubung siasatan pengibaran bendera Sang Saka Malaya pada malam sambutan Hari Kemerdekaan ke 56 jika dilayan secara bermaruah.

"Tidak. Kalau dilayan sebagai insan, saya akan pertimbang," kata Samad menerusi sistem pesanan ringkas (SMS) kepada Astro AWANI ketika ditanya samada beliau akan menyerah diri kepada polis atau tidak.

Hari ini, Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar meminta Samadmenyerah diri bagi membantu siasatan berhubung tindakan individu yang mengibar bendera Sang Saka Malaya berhampiran Dataran Merdeka pada Jumaat malam lalu.

Dalam satu sidang media, Khalid berkata, jika Samad berani mencabar undang-undang, maka beliau juga perlu berani ke depan untuk berhadapan dengan tindakan polis.

Khalid juga mendakwa Sasterawan Negara yang lebih dikenali sebagai Pak Samad “menyorok” ketika polis menjalankan operasi mengesan sasterawan itu pada malam tadi namun Pak Samad menafikan dakwaan tesebut.

“Ada laporan dalam Malaysiakini mengatakan Ketua Polis Negara sebagai berkata saya lari dari polis dan ini tidak benar kerana saya tidak pernah lari malahan semalam saya berada di jalanan, menaiki LRT dan kemudiannya berada di rumah,” kata Samad.

Menurutnya, tiada arahan rasmi dari polis malah tiada juga panggilan atau perjumpaan dari pihak berkenaan.

Semalam, dua aktivis, Hishamuddin Rais dan Adam Adli Abdul Halimditahan mengikut Akta Hasutan 1948 kerana mengibarkan bendera Sang Saka Malaya pada malam sambutan Hari Kemerdekaan ke-56 di Dataran Merdeka sebelum dibebaskan awal pagi ini.

Kedua-duanya dibawa ke Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur semalam untuk disoal siasat mengikut akta itu.

Mereka kemudiannya dibebaskan awal pagi tadi dengan seorang penjamin dan sedang menunggu siasatan sama ada akan dibawa ke mahkamah atau tidak.

- Astro Awani

Statistik harga petrol Malaysia 1990 hingga 2013

Infografik: Harga petrol Malaysia 1990-2013

Berita mula diterbitkan pada: September 03, 2013 21:15 MYT

Sumber infografik: Astro Awani

Gaun perkahwinan 25kg!

Zaskia Gotik


BAKAL melangsungkan perkahwinan, penyanyi dangdut 1000 Alasa, Zaskia Gotik akan mengenakan gaun mewah seberat 25 kilogram dalam majlis resepsinya nanti.

Pereka baju tersebut, Ayok Dwipanca, berkata, gaun itu dihiasi dengan batu kristal swafroski dengan corak merak.

Bukan sahaja pakaiannya dihiasi indah, persiapan 'pawon' atau khidmat katering sudah disediakan berhampiran masjid.

"Dekorasi dan susun atur kelengkapan juga hampir siap.

"Begitu juga meja tetamu yang kelihatan mewah dengan hiasan lilin dan alunan muzik," katanya.

Lagu September Ceria menjadi lagu tema perkahwinan Zaskia bersama ahli perniagaan, Vicky Prasetyo.


Sumber

Jangan terpedaya dengan Panggilan dan Mesej Palsu

JANGAN TERPEDAYA: Berhati-hati dengan penipuan kewangan melalui panggilan telefon, e-mel dan SMS. Anda dinasihatkan agar tidak mendedahkan maklumat keselamatan kewangan anda kepada sesiapa sahaja dalam apa jua keadaan pun, sekiranya anda menerima panggilan telefon, SMS atau e-mel yang tidak diundang.

Lindungi diri anda dengan tidak melayan mana-mana pihak tidak diundang yang menghubungi anda, jika anda telah menerima permintaan seperti itu, JANGAN mengendahkanya.

Pihak PDRM dan BNM sentiasa bekerjasama dalam memberi kesedaran dan peringatan kepada masyarakat bagi memerangi "Jenayah Kewangan". Jangan Menjadi Mangsa..!!

Sumber: BNMTELELINK

Kurt Russell headed for 'Fast and Furious 7'

The film's producers have their sights set on the 62-year old actor, whose multi-decade career includes starring roles in "Escape from New York" (1981), "The Thing" (1982) and "Death Proof" (2007).

According to Variety, Kurt Russell is in talks with Universal for a leading role that was turned down by Denzel Washington.

If an agreement is reached, he will join Jason Statham, Tony Jaa and Ronda Rousey as one of the new faces of the "Fast and Furious" saga in its seventh installment.

James Wan will take a break from the horror films he has become known for ("Insidious", "The Conjuring") to film the signature racing battles of the Fast and Furious franchise, first introduced in 2001.

Filmed in the style of a 1970s thriller, "Fast and Furious 7" will follow Ian Shaw (Jason Statham) in his quest for revenge after the death of his brother Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) in the previous episode, released last spring.

The cast and crew of "Fast and Furious 7"will begin filming any day now. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson will return to the saga for this seventh episode, which is set in Los Angeles.

- AFP RELAXNEWS 

Anggota kongsi gelap berselindung di negara jiran

• Khalid Abu Bakar

Ops Cantas Khas yang dilaksanakan Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) sejak lebih dua minggu lepas, dilihat telah memberi tekanan kepada anggota kongsi gelap apabila mereka cuba mencari perlindungan di negara jiran.

    

Berikutan itu, Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar berkata operasi memburu kumpulan kongsi gelap kini tertumpu di kawasan sempadan negara termasuk di pintu-pintu masuk.

    

Untuk operasi dalam negeri, katanya PDRM menjalinkan kerjasama dengan agensi-agensi lain termasuk Jabatan Imigresen dan Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM).

    

"Kita akan pantau semua pintu masuk sempadan supaya mereka tidak dapat keluar," katanya kepada pemberita selepas majlis Perbarisan Tamat Latihan dan Pertauliahan Kor Sukses Institut Pengajian Tinggi Awam (IPTA) di Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM) di sini, hari ini.

    

Khalid berkata anggota kongsi gelap melarikan diri ke luar negara berikutan penahanan ketua-ketua kongsi gelap serta kesukaran menjalankan aktiviti jenayah disebabkan operasi pihak berkuasa, selain mahu menghapuskan tatu kumpulan pada anggota badan supaya sukar dikesan polis.

    

Beliau berkata PDRM mungkin bekerjasama dengan pihak berkuasa negara-negara jiran bagi menahan mereka yang diburu.

    

Dalam Ops Cantas Khas yang bermula 17 Ogos lepas, di seluruh negara PDRM menangkap 4,777 orang dan merampas 136 kenderaan curi, lapan senjata api, sebuah bom tangan, 54 peluru dan 133 senjata berbahaya.

    

Kementerian Dalam Negeri turut mengumumkan senarai 49 kumpulan kongsi gelap di seluruh negara.

    

Dalam pada itu, Khalid berkata polis juga akan menyiasat warga asing yang  terlibat dalam kegiatan kongsi gelap setelah laporan Ops 6P Jabatan Imigresen Pulau Pinang semalam mendapati adanya pintu bilik penginapan atau rumah kongsi warga asing di Bayan Lepas, mempunyai lambang kongsi gelap.

    

"Jika benar ini berlaku kita akan ambil-alih kes supaya siasatan senang dilakukan dan semasa disiasat semua elemen-elemen penting juga akan dilihat," katanya.

    

Sementara itu, Ketua Penolong Pengarah Bahagian Kongsi Gelap, Maksiat dan Perjudian (D7) Bukit Aman Datuk Abdul Jalil Hassan berkata pihaknya sedang menyiasat kes itu.

    

"Polis setakat ini tidak mengesan pembabitan warga asing dalam kumpulan kongsi gelap tetapi sedia siasat," katanya ketika dihubungi Bernama. - BERNAMA 

Minyak naik 20 sen: Penjelasan PM

 

Seorang penunggang motosikal melihat notis pemberitahuan kenaikan harga minyak di stesen minyak di Melaka, malam tadi. - Foto Muhammad Hatim Ab Manan

Sebahagian langkah penyusunan semula subsidi untuk kukuh kewangan negara

Putrajaya: Harga minyak RON 95 serta diesel dinaikkan 20 sen seliter, berkuat kuasa tengah malam tadi sebagai sebahagian langkah penyusunan semula subsidi yang akan dilaksanakan secara berperingkat oleh kerajaan.

Berikutan itu, RON 95 kini dijual pada harga RM2.10 seliter manakala diesel RM2 seliter.

Langkah itu yang diputuskan pada mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Dasar Fiskal (FPC) yang dipengerusikan oleh Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, semalam adalah antara inisiatif ke arah mengukuhkan kedudukan kewangan negara dalam berdepan persekitaran ekonomi dunia yang semakin mencabar.

Pada mesyuarat itu, FPC juga memutuskan supaya kerajaan menimbangkan secara lebih teliti pelaksanaan projek sektor awam dengan memberi keutamaan kepada projek dengan kandungan import rendah, tetapi mempunyai kesan penggandaan yang tinggi.

Pelaksanaan projek yang mempunyai kandungan import yang tinggi akan disusun mengikut jadual yang sewajarnya bertujuan menangani lebihan akaun semasa negara yang semakin berkurangan.

- Berita Harian

Lelaki Eropah semakin tinggi

Ketinggian purata lelaki Eropah naik 11 sentimeter mulai 1870-an hingga 1980, menurut kajian baru yang disiarkan semalam.

Bercanggah dengan jangkaan, kajian itu juga mendapati purata ketinggian lebih cepat dalam tempoh meletusnya dua perang dunia dan kemelesetan ekonomi. 

Ia berlaku ketika kemiskinan, dasar mengehadkan makanan dan kesempitan hidup dipercayai akan menyekat saiz manusia. Apa yang berlaku mungkin disebabkan keputusan untuk mengurangkan bilangan anak dalam tempoh berkenaan.

Penyelidik berkata, saiz keluarga lebih kecil sebelum ini didapati ada hubungan dengan peningkatan ketinggian.

"Meningkatnya status manusia adalah petunjuk utama mengapa purat kesihatan penduduk bertambah baik," kata ketua penyelidikan itu, Profesor Ekonomi Universiti Essex, Timothy Hatton.

Katanya, bukti menunjukkan purat ketinggian lelaki Eropah meningkat daripada 167 kepada 178 sentimeter dalam tempoh 100 tahun lalu membayangkan suasana kesihatan yang meningkat dan pengurangan penyakit.
Kajian itu disiarkan online di laman web 'Oxford Economic Papers' dan menganalisis data purata ketinggian lelaki Eropah pada usia 21 tahun mulai 1870-an hingga 1980 membabitkan 15 negara Eropah.

Kajian dilakukan ke atas lelaki kerana data ketinggian wanita sukar didapati, kata penyelidik.

Bagi dekad yang baru berlalu, data mengenai lelaki diambil dari kajian ketinggian mengikut umur manakala dalam kajian awal mereka gunakan data prebet dan rekrut tentera.

Penyelidik mendapati, di banyak negara Eropah termasuk Britain dan Ireland, negara Scandinavia, Belanda, Austria, Belgium dan Jerman, berlaku proses lebih pantas untuk lelaki lebih tinggi. 


Sumber: AGENSI melalui Berita Harian

Pak Samad: I'm not hiding... I never run

Hunted and wanted by the police, national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said today denied ever running away or hidding from the authorities.

“There are reports online quoting the Inspector-General of Police (Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar) as saying I am hiding from the police. But that’s not true, I have never run (away),” A. Samad, or Pak Samad, told Astro AWANI.

Earlier today, Khalid urged Pak Samad to surrender himself over his alleged involvement in a gathering on Aug 30, the eve of Merdeka Day, where the 'Sang Saka Malaya' flag was flown.

Yesterday, activists Hishamuddin Rais and Adam Adli were arrested under the Sedition Act over the flag waving incident. They were released at 3am today.

Continued Pak Samad: “Yesterday, I was walking on the streets, in the LRT, and at home. I have never gone anywhere that I don’t usually go.”

“No, there was no official order from the police, neither was there any calls or visits to my house,” he said.

Pak Samad further said that it was a false accusation that he was fleeing the police. “It’s not true to say that I am in hiding, and it is their assumption that I am involved.”

Asked if he feels that the flying of the Sang Saka Malaya flag was wrong, Pak Samad replied: “I don’t want to say it is not right or right.”

“Everyone has a right to speak his mind and express his stand, and I respect that. It may be so that if you are on the side of the police, it may be seen as wrong, and if you are on our side, may be it is right.”

Police are also investigating the unfurling of the Sang Saka Malaya flag under the National Flag Act 2012 and the National Anthem Act 1968.

A Bernama report today quoted academicians as saying that the flying of the controversial flags can be seen as a challenge to national sovereignty.

Gagasan Pendidikan Melayu Malaysia secretary-general Syed Anuar Syed Mohamad urged the government to revoke the national laureate title conferred on A. Samad Said.

A similar incident involving the 'Sang Saka Malaya' flag took place on the eve of last year's Merdeka Day, following which more than 400 police reports were lodged.

The 'Sang Saka Malaya' is a red and white flag with 12 yellow stars set in four columns reportedly proposed as Malaya's national flag by an association in the 1940s.

- Astro Awani 

Wanita berumur 64 berjaya berenang dari Cuba ke Florida

Kegagalan dalam empat percubaan sebelum ini tidak pernah mematahkan semangat Diana Nyad.

Sebaliknya wanita berusia 64 tahun ini tekad meneruskan hasratnya berenang secara solo dari Havana ke Florida.

Dan hasilnya bekas wartawan ini mengukir nama selaku manusia pertama yang menamatkan renangan sejauh 166 kilometer ini tanpa sangkar keselamatan.

Ketibaan Nyad di Pantai Florida disambut gemuruh orang ramai yang menantikan detik bersejarah itu.

Wanita berjiwa kental ini mengambil masa 53 jam untuk menamatkan misinya merentas sempadan laut dua negara.

Dan sejurus tiba Nyad terus dibawa ke hospital bagi merawat beberapa kecederaan yang dialaminya.

Nyad mula menjadi perhatian sejak melakukan renangan sejauh 45 kilometer  mengelilingi pulau Manhattan dengan catatan di bawah lapan jam pada 1975. - Astro Awani 

'The Butler' regains top spot in North American box office

Lee Daniels' "The Butler" regained the top slot at the North American box office over the US holiday weekend, according to preliminary figures released by an industry group.

The film about the civil rights era as seen through the eyes of a black White House servant played by Forest Whitaker had briefly lost ground to a documentary about the British boy band One Direction.

But over the four-day weekend the film, which also stars Oprah Winfrey as the butler's wife, grossed more than $20 million compared to "One Direction: This Is Us," which netted just $18 million on its debut, according to Exhibitor Relations.

Monday was the federal Labor Day holiday in the United States, and the final results will not be known until Tuesday.

The concert documentary about the tween sensation has generated lukewarm reviews in the United States, but with an estimated budget of around $10 million had been expected to deliver a hugely profitable box-office hit for Sony.

It is directed by Morgan Spurlock, best known for his 2004 fast-food expose "Super Size Me."

In third place was raunchy adult comedy "We're the Millers," about drug smugglers posing as a suburban family, including Jennifer Aniston as a stripper, earning $15.9 million in theatres.

The fourth spot was claimed by Disney's animated film "Planes," a spin-off from Pixar's "Cars" franchise, which took in $10.7 million.

In fifth place was the comedy-drama "Instructions Not Included," Eugenio Derbez's movie about a Mexican playboy who is suddenly presented with the child from a previous liaison and forced to become a father. The movie took in $10 million.

Sixth place was occupied by science-fiction drama "Elysium", the critically acclaimed blockbuster starring Matt Damon about wealthy humans living in an exclusive outer space colony after Earth is ruined.

The film, directed by South Africa's Neill Blomkamp, added another $8.3 million to take its four-week total to $80.4 million.

"The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones," a teen-romance demon thriller about a girl who discovers dark secrets from her family's past, dropped four places to seventh with $6.8 million.

British action disaster comedy "The World's End" also slipped down the rankings, falling to eighth place from fourth last week with $6.5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" with $6 million and new entrant "Getaway", the action thriller starring Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez, with $5.5 million.

US Open: Federer Tumbles to Earliest Exit in 10 Years

As Roger Federer’s summer of decline continued on Monday, he refused to blame his bad back or an unfamiliar stadium for his earliest loss at the United States Open in 10 years. That left only his performance to explain another defeat and the pattern that continued.

Roger Federer had his worst finish in 10 years at the United States Open, losing Monday. It is the first time since 2002 that Federer will not compete in a Grand Slam final.


Order of Finish

2003: Fourth round
2004: Champion
2005: Champion
2006: Champion
2007: Champion
2008: Champion
2009: Finalist 2010: Semifinalist
2011: Semifinalist
2012: Quarterfinalist
2013: Fourth round


To watch Federer this summer is to listen to an opera singer who can no longer hit the high notes. Flashes of the usual brilliance remain but occur less frequently, less consistently, until a player who once seemed anything but beatable is now imminently so.

Tennis is not like team sports, where aging outfielders become designated hitters, whose diminished skills can be hidden or disguised. Tennis is a solitary pursuit, like boxing, and when the reflexes slow and the legs go, the contrast is more obvious and stark.

In his 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4 loss to 19th-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain, Federer, seeded seventh, looked uncomfortable more than anything. Graceful footwork gave way to stumbles. Break points went unconverted. Where he once missed shots by inches, he missed by feet. Federer looked very much as he has looked throughout this summer: vulnerable, human, diminished, if only slightly.

Federer met the assembled reporters almost immediately afterward, a pattern consistent with his rare early exits at Grand Slam events. He refused to accept the excuses lobbed in his direction. His face glum, his eyes narrowed, he credited Robredo through clenched teeth and blamed himself. Mostly, he blamed himself.

“It’s been a difficult last three months, you know,” said Federer, who was 10-0 against Robredo. “My consistency is just not quite there yet. Maybe on a daily basis, set-by-set or point-by-point basis, maybe that’s something that has been difficult for me.”


Source: ESPN

Implikasi kenaikan harga minyak: Kerajaan perlu pertingkat pengangkutan awam

Kerajaan perlu mengambil tindakan drastik mempertingkat perkhidmatan pengangkutan awam sebagai langkah mengurangkan beban pengguna selaras kenaikan harga minyak RON95 dan diesel yang diumum Isnin.

Setiausaha Agung Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM) Datuk Dr Maamor Osman, bagaimanapun, berkata beberapa mekanisme yang efisien boleh menyeimbang tekanan kepada pengguna kesan kenaikan itu.

"Kita faham langkah kerajaan ini untuk mengurangkan subsidi... ini satu langkah yang perlu... tapi dalam keadaan ekonomi yang lembap, pendapatan yang tidak meningkat... ia sedikit sebanyak akan membebankan golongan berpendapatan rendah.

"Justeru kerajaan perlu mencari mekanisme tertentu, antaranya memastikan sistem pengangkutan awam yang bersih, selamat, efisien dan menepati waktu sebagai alternatif kepada rakyat," katanya.

Beliau mengulas pengumuman Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berhubung kenaikan harga minyak RON95 dan diesel sebanyak 20 sen bermula tengah malam tadi.

Maamor berkata kerajaan juga mungkin boleh memperkenal rebat pembelian minyak kepada pengguna motosikal serta kenderaan nasional, yang rata-ratanya berpendapatan sederhana dan rendah.

"Contohnya mewujudkan kad pintar untuk warganegara Malaysia yang menggunakan motosikal dan kereta nasional, yang mana mereka boleh dapat rebat apabila mengisi minyak," katanya.

Selain itu, beliau mencadangkan kerajaan mencari inisiatif bagi mendisiplinkan peniaga yang rakus mencari keuntungan dan menaikkan harga barangan sesuka hati bersandarkan alasan kenaikan harga minyak.

"Bagi pihak majikan pula, mungkin boleh mempertimbangkan untuk meningkatkan kadar elaun kepada pekerja yang banyak menggunakan kenderaan atas faktor tugasan, dan bagi pengguna pula perlu mengambil langkah mengelak perjalanan yang kurang berfaedah seperti berjalan-jalan untuk melepak," katanya.

Sementara itu, Presiden Gabungan Persatuan-Persatuan Pengguna Malaysia (FOMCA) Datuk N. Marimuthu berkata hampir 90 peratus rakyat di negara ini menggunakan RON95.

"Sebab itu, kerajaan perlu mencari langkah sesuai dengan meningkatkan sistem pengangkutan awam yang terkini bagi membantu rakyat," katanya.

- BERNAMA 

Australia PM clashes with pastor on gay marriage

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has clashed with a Christian pastor over gay marriage, using the Bible to support his argument as he explained his change of heart on the issue.

Labor leader Rudd, who is lagging in polls ahead of Saturday's national election, was asked why Christians should vote for him given "Jesus said a man shall leave his father and mother and be married, and that's the Biblical definition".

"I'm just curious for you, Kevin, if you call yourself a Christian, why don't you believe the words of Jesus in the Bible?" pastor Matt Prater asked the prime minister on the live programme "Q&A" on Monday night.

"Well, mate if I was going to have that view, the Bible also says that slavery is a natural condition," Rudd responded to sustained applause.

"Because St Paul said in the New Testament, slaves be obedient to your masters. And therefore we should have all fought for the Confederacy in the US Civil War. I mean, for goodness' sake."

Gay marriage is a key issue in some electorates, with Rudd becoming the first Australian prime minister to go into an election promising marriage equality, vowing to introduce a bill legalising the unions if returned to office.

Conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott is opposed to same-sex marriages.

Rudd last year voted against gay marriage in parliament, but has since changed his mind, prompting Prater to ask whether the prime minister kept "chopping and changing your beliefs just to get a popular vote with regards to things like marriage".

"The human condition and social conditions change," Rudd said, adding that his conversion was the result of "many months and years of reflection in good Christian conscience".

He said the fundamental principle of the New Testament was one of universal love, "and if we get obsessed with a particular definition of that through a form of sexuality, then I think we are missing the centrality of what the gospel... is all about".

"And if you think homosexuality is an unnatural condition, then frankly I cannot agree with you," he added.

Same-sex unions are available in a majority of Australian states but because marriage comes under federal legislation these couples are not formally recognised as married by the government.

- AFP

Bayi satu tahun jadi mangsa tersalah tembak di New York

SEORANG bayi berusia satu tahun mati tertembak di kepala di Brooklyn, New York pada malam Ahad.

Menurut saksi kejadian, bayi lelaki berkenaan, Antiq Hennis  terkena tembakan ketika berada di dalam kereta sorong bayi bersama ayahnya.

Menurut polis, sasaran sebenar penembak ialah bapa bayi malang berkenaan. Namun si bapa tidak mengalami sebarang luka dalam kejadian itu .

Ketika kejadian, Hennis dan bapanya sedang berjalan-jalan di sekitar kejiranan rumah mereka.

Tiba-tiba berlaku tembakan di mana peluru menembusi bahagian kepala bayi berkenaan.

Saksi mengaku terdengar empat das tembakan, di mana salah satu terkena bayi malang itu.

Tembakan lain kemudiannya menghujani sekitar lokasi kejadian di Britol Street dekat Lavonia Avenue New York.

Mangsa disahkan meninggal dunia sebaik sampai di hospital akibat luka tembakan di bahagian muka sebelah kiri.

Setakat ini tiada sebarang tangkapan di buat dan polis New York sedang giat memburu penembak berkenaan.

Kejadian bayi ditembak di dalam kereta sorong sudah banyak kali berlaku di Amerika Syarikat.

Jumaat minggu lalu, seorang remaja 18 tahun didakwa atas tuduhan membunuh bayi 13 bulan dalam satu kejadian rompakan di Georgia. - Astro Awani 

Assad warns of 'REGIONAL WAR' if West takes military action

PARIS:  Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad warned Monday that Western military strikes risked igniting a "regional war" in the "powder keg" of the Middle East, in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro.

He also said France would face "repercussions" if it took part in US-led plans for military action in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack by Assad's regime last month.

"The Middle East is a powder keg, and the fuse is getting shorter," Assad told the newspaper's correspondent in Damascus, in a rare interview with Western media.

"We cannot only talk about a Syrian response, but what could happen after the first strike. Nobody knows what will happen," Assad said.

"Everyone will lose control of the situation once the powder keg explodes. Chaos and extremism will spread. There is a risk of regional war."

Assad also said France, which is prepared to back Washington in threatened military strikes in response to the alleged August 21 chemical attack, should consider the consequences of such action.

"Whoever works against the interests of Syria and its citizens is an enemy. The French people are not our enemy, but the policy of their state is hostile to the Syrian people," he said.

"Insofar as the policy of the French state is hostile to the Syrian people, the state will be its enemy... There will be repercussions, negative ones of course, on the interests of France."

He said French policy on Syria now "depends totally on Qatar and the United States" who have overtly backed the opposition.

Assad said that at the start of the crisis, now into its third year, a solution could have been found through dialogue or political measures but the situation today was "different".

"We are fighting terrorists. Eighty to 90 percent of those we are fighting belong to Al-Qaeda. Those people are neither interested in reforms, nor in politics," he said, adding that the sole option was to "liquidate" them.

Assad said the only way to a solution would be to prevent "terrorists" backed by money and arms from entering Syria and dismissed the opposition as foreign stooges.

"The opposition has no popular base in Syria. It is made in France, made in Qatar but certainly not made in Syria," he said. "It follows the orders of those who made it."

The Syrian leader specifically named Britain, the United States, France, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia as those who had provided huge financial and military backing to the opposition.

Assad said France, which had notably opposed the Anglo-American offensive on Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 2003, leading to its widespread vilification in the United States, had "decided to renounce its independence and become a subaltern actor in American politics."

"The question is whether the French will find their independence when they take their decision," he said, slamming the "double standards" promoted by the United States.

The French parliament is due to hold an emergency session on Syria on Wednesday but there will be no vote.

"Today the stability of the region depends on the situation in Syria," Assad warned, dismissing responsibility for the alleged chemical attack which Washington says killed more than 1,400 people.

- AFP

Pemilik kedai emas Abdul Razak Jewellers ditembak di Lebuh Ampang

KUALA LUMPUR:  Pemilik kedai emas terkenal di Lebuh Ampang Abdul Rasull Abdul Razak cedera akibat ditembak dalam satu cubaan merompak pagi ini.

Perkara ini disahkan kepada Astro Awani oleh Ketua Polis Daerah Dang Wangi ACP Zainuddin Ahmad.

Pemilik Abdul Razak Jewellers itu kini sedang menerima rawatan di Hospital Kuala Lumpur akibat cedera terkena tembakan.

Dalam satu kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh Timbalan Ketua Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Kuala Lumpur, ACP Khairy Ahrasa, kejadian berlaku pada jam 9.30 pagi ketika empat pekerja premis terbabit sedang menyusun barang kemas yang terdapat di kedai itu.

“Premis itu kemudiannya didatangi oleh empat lelaki dimana dua darinya telah masuk ke dalam kedai itu manakala dua lagi berjaga di luar kedai. Salah seorang lelaki yang masuk ke dalam kedai itu kemudiannya bertindak melompat ke ruang pekerja manakala seorang lagi berdiri di ruang pelanggan,” kata Zainuddin.

Pengurus kedai emas berumur 58 tahun itu telah melihat kejadian lalu cuba menerpa untuk menangkap salah seorang suspek yang berada di ruang pekerja itu.

“Namun, tindakannya itu disedari oleh dua lagi suspek yang berada di luar kedai yang kemudiannya melepaskan tembakan dan mengena bahu serta perut pengurus kedai itu,” katanya lagi.

Perompak-perompak itu kemudian bertindak melarikan diri tanpa sempat melarikan barang kemas dari kedai itu.

“Siasatan awal polis mendapati suspek-suspek tersebut berpakaian jaket hitam dan memakai topi keledar dan kita percaya salah seorang dari suspek memiliki pistol. Kita menemui tiga kelongsong peluru dan satu serpihan ‘kelosong peluru’ yang digunakan,” beliau berkata.

Usaha untuk mengesan suspek melalui CCTV di sekitar premis tersebut masih lagi dijalankan dan saksi yang melihat kejadian itu diminta tampil untuk membantu siasatan.

Kes kini disiasat dibawah Seksyen 4 Akta Senjata Api (Penalti Lebih Berat) 1971.

- Astro Awani 

Warga Syria di AS bantah cadangan Obama

Beratus-ratus warga Syria mengadakan protes  besar-besaran di New York City ketika Amerika dikatakan semakin hampir melancarkan tindakan ketenteraan itu.

Penunjuk perasaan itu berjumpul di Times Square bagi membantah tindakan campur tangan Amerika ke atas Syria.

Turut menyertai tunjuk perasaan itu adalah warga Amerika sendiri yang menolak tindakan ketenteraan itu.

White House percaya presiden Bashar adalah dalang dalam serangan senjata kimia di pinggir bandar raya Damsyik pada minggu lalu yang telah mengorbankan lebih 1400 nyawa.

Sementara itu, setiausaha negara Amerika Syarikat John Kerry mendakwa negara itu kini memiliki bukti penggunaan gas sarin di Syria.

Ia sekaligus menguatkan lagi alasan Amerika Syarikat untuk meneruskan hasrat melancarkan operasi tentera ke atas negara bergolak itu.

Dalam temubual bersama US Sunday News mendakwa bukti terbabit diperoleh menerusi kajian terhadap sampel rambut dan darah yang dihantar responder pertama di Damsyik kepada Washington.

Kenyataan Kerry itu hadir sehari selepas presiden Barack Obama bertegas mahu operasi kontroversi itu diteruskan.

Kerry dalam masa yang sama yakin kongres akan menyokong langkah Obama menyerang Syria meskipun secara dasarnya kuasa yang ada pada presiden sahaja sudah memadai bagi operasi itu digerakkan.

Mengulangi kenyataan Obama, Kerry mendesak dunia bersama negara Uncle Sam itu memerangi rejim Bashar Assad yang didakwa menzalimi rakyat menggunakan senjata kimia.

- Astro Awani 

Isham Rais dan Adam ditahan Akta Hasutan

KUALA LUMPUR:  Aktivis Hishamuddin Rais dan Adam Adli sedang ditahan di Balai Polis Dang Wangi di bawah Akta Hasutan.

Mereka merupakan antara aktivis yang mengibarkan bendera 'Sang Saka Malaya' pada sambutan Ambang Merdeka di Dataran Merdeka pada Jumaat lepas.


Terdahulu, menurut laporan Bernama, Polis Kuala Lumpur telah menubuhkan satu pasukan khas untuk menyiasat insiden mengibarkan bendera rekaan pihak tidak bertanggungjawab pada malam sambutan Hari Kemerdekaan ke-56 di Dataran Merdeka, Jumaat lepas.

Ketua Polis Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Mohmad Salleh memberitahu Bernama hari ini bahawa pasukan khas itu akan menyiasat insiden itu daripada pelbagai sudut dan telah membuka kertas siasatan berhubung insiden itu.

Dalam pada itu, Ketua Polis Daerah Dang Wangi, ACP Zainuddin Ahmad berkata pihaknya akan memanggil kumpulan yang terbabit mengibarkan bendera rekaan itu untuk membantu siasatan.

Beliau berkata pihaknya masih belum mengenal pasti individu yang merampas bendera alternatif itu daripada kumpulan berkenaan seperti yang dilihat dalam klip video yang dimuat naik dalam laman 'Youtube'.

Zainuddin berkata kes itu akan disiasat mengikut Seksyen 4 (1)(b) Akta Hasutan 1948 dan Seksyen 505(b) Kanun Keseksaan kerana melibatkan kenyataan-kenyataan yang mendatangkan khianat awam.

Sementara itu, tiga buah badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) hari ini membuat laporan polis terhadap Sasterawan Negara Datuk A. Samad Said dan aktivis politik Hishamuddin Rais berhubung insiden tersebut.

Dua NGO tersebut iaitu Ikatan Rakyat Insan Muslim Malaysia (IRIM) dan Pertubuhan Martabat Jalinan Muhibbah Malaysia (MJMM) membuat laporan itu di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Sentul di Jalan Kasipillay di sini.

Manakala Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) Selangor membuat laporan di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Shah Alam.

Presiden IRIMM, Amir Amsaa Alla Pitchay menyifatkan perbuatan mengibarkan bendera selain Jalur Gemilang ketika negara meraikan sambutan kemerdekaan sebagai tidak boleh diterima dan menyinggung perasaan rakyat.

Yang Dipertua Perkasa Selangor, Abu Bakar Yahya pula berkata perbuatan itu menghina kedaulatan negara dan tidak seharusnya dibiarkan terus berlaku.

"Perkasa Selangor percaya ada tangan ghaib untuk wujudkan keadaan kucar-kacir di negara ini," katanya kepada pemberita selepas membuat laporan polis itu.

Di ALOR SETAR, Menteri Besar Kedah Datuk Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir kesal dengan perbuatan segelintir rakyat mengibarkan bendera lain menggantikan Jalur Gemilang menjelang sambutan Hari Kemerdekaan.

Katanya perbuatan itu memberi tafsiran untuk tidak memperakui sejarah pejuang serta pemimpin-pemimpin yang memperjuangkan kemerdekaan negara.

Justeru, beliau meminta rakyat mempertahankan simbol dan panji-panji negara, Rukun Negara dan segala lambang yang menjadi sumber dan semangat perpaduan kaum di negara ini.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika berucap merasmikan sambutan Minggu Perpaduan, Pelancaran Serentak e-Rukun Tetangga dan My Rukun Negara sempena Bulan Kemerdekaan peringkat negeri di Bandar Muadzam Shah di sini.

Di KULIM, Majlis Bekas Wakil Rakyat Malaysia (Mubarak) cawangan Kedah menyifatkan golongan yang memperlekeh Jalur Gemilang dan mengibar bendera alternatif sebagai pengkhianat serta penderhaka negara.

Setiausahanya Datuk Mohd Hadzir Ismail berkata pihaknya menyokong saranan pakar sejarah, Prof Datuk Dr Ramlah Adam semalam supaya tindakan tegas diambil terhadap pihak terbabait dengan melucutkan taraf kerakyatan mereka.

Semalam, Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamid berkata polis sedia menyiasat pihak yang mengibar bendera berkenaan jika ada laporan polis dibuat mengenainya.

Beliau menegaskan tindakan undang-undang boleh dikenakan terhadap kumpulan yang mempertikaikan status Jalur Gemilang.

- Astro Awani 

iPhone 5C glimpsed in blue and other colors, looks decent

Previous look at the iPhone 5C wasn't especially flattering, as it only showed the plain white version of the rumored handset. 

The newer image above is impossible to authenticate, but it's a tad more sympathetic and it comes from a batch of photos of yellow, pink and blue plastic iPhones (or perhaps knock-offs) that briefly appeared on Chinese site iapps.imbefore being deleted at the request of a "relevant party." 

Although there are definitely some echoes of Nokia's Lumia 620 here, the close-up shot of the blue model suggests we may be looking at something a bit thinner, with slightly less rounded edges, and with a non-removable unibody that may also have a more serious matte finish -- although the translucent packaging makes it hard to be sure.

Source

Acer Mengumumkan Liquid S2 Dengan Sokongan Rakaman Video 4K

Mon, 02 Sep 2013

Acer telah memperkenalkan Liquid S1 pada Computex sebelum ini, dan kini gergasi komputer dari Taiwan tersebut telah pun mengumumkan Liquid S2, dimana menariknya ia hadir dengan sokongan rakaman video 4K, sekaligus menjadi antara yang terawal membawakan sokongannya.



Dari segi spesifikasi, Acer Liquid S2 ini menyertakan cip pemprosesan 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800, sokongan paparan HD penuh, kamera belakang 13-megapixel dan juga kamera hadapan 2-megapixel. Sokongan rangkaian LTE turut disertakan pada peranti yang membawakan bateri berkapasiti 3300mAh ini.

Peranti ini turut menyertakan beberapa fungsi khas, termasuk salah satunya dinamakan “Quick First Shot”, membolehkan pengguna merakamkan gambar dengan tap mana-mana bahagian pada lockscreen, sekaligus mengelakkan anda terlepas sesuatu detik istimewa. Aplikasi Evernote, Skitch dan Polaris Office turut disertakan pada peranti berkenaan.

Ia masih tidak diketahui lagi bilakah peranti bersaiz 6-inci ini akan hadir ke pasaran tempatan.

Sumber

Monster crocodile traps tourist on Australian island

SYDNEY: A tourist has had a lucky escape after being trapped on a remote Australian island for two weeks by a monster six-metre (20-foot) crocodile, reports said Monday.

The New Zealander, identified only as Ryan, was dropped with his kayak on Governor Island off Western Australia's far north by boat and had been intending to paddle the four kilometres (2.5 miles) back to the mainland.

He told his rescuer, Kalumburu resident Don Macleod, that every time he tried to kayak away from the island, the giant reptile stalked him. So he stayed on dry land, despite diminishing food and water supplies, for fear of being eaten.

"He said he was there for a fortnight and he came to the conclusion very quickly that he couldn't get off there without attracting this crocodile that lives in that area and probably was watching him all the time," Macleod told the ABC.

"So he was reduced then to trying to conserve his water and signal (for help)."

Macleod said he was familiar with the crocodile which roamed the island, which has no fresh water source.

"That crocodile, I've seen him several times actually going by quite fast," he said.

"One day he just happened to surface alongside me as I was going past and my boat's 20 foot long so he was well up towards the 20-foot mark."

Macleod said he only went to investigate on Saturday after spotting a light on Governor Island and came across the distressed man.

"I went across and Ryan came out looking a bit distraught," he told the broadcaster. "He came down the beach, he had no hat on and no shirt on.

"He was relieved and shocked, and thankful someone had come along because he was running out of options pretty quickly. He is a very, very lucky man."

"He was desperate for water when I trotted up. We gave him a cold beer, which was probably the wrong thing, and then he went to sleep about three-quarters of the way home."

The New Zealander is reportedly recovering on the mainland.

Saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to seven metres long and weigh more than a tonne, are a common feature of Australia's tropical north.

Last month a man was snatched by a large crocodile in front of horrified onlookers as he swam in a river in the Northern Territory. --AFP