Penahanan Justo kait rapat jatuhkan PM?

Justo ditahan polis Thailand.

KUALA LUMPUR - Seandainya benar pertemuan ahli politik pembangkang dengan warga Switzerland, Xavier Andre Justo, maka penganalisis politik menyifatkan ia sebagai petanda wujudnya konspirasi untuk menjatuhkan kerajaan pimpinan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Prof Datuk Dr Zainal Kling berpendapat pertemuan sulit antara beberapa individu dari Malaysia dengan bekas eksekutif PetroSaudi International Ltd (PetroSaudi) itu dilihat sebagai satu konspirasi politik untuk menggulingkan kerajaan BN.

Laporan media sebelum ini menyebut pemimpin pembangkang telah mengadakan pertemuan dengan Justo untuk membeli maklumat sulit daripadanya untuk memburuk-burukkan kerajaan Malaysia berkaitan dengan projek usahasama PetroSaudi dengan syarikat pelaburan negara, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (IMDB).

Justo, 49, ditahan oleh polis Thailand di pulau peranginan Koh Samui, pada 22 Jun lepas selepas PetroSaudi membuat laporan terhadapnya atas dakwaan memeras ugut bekas majikannya itu.

"Perkara ini dicetuskan berikutan ada kompromi orang dalaman dengan orang luar...namun peranan orang dalaman inilah yang sangat tidak bertanggungjawab, menjadi pencetus untuk menjatuhkan imej negara dengan pelbagai laporan skandal mengenai 1MDB," kata Zainal.

Menurutnya pihak luar dilihat mahu memburukkan imej kerajaan Malaysia di mata dunia kerana cemburu dengan kejayaan negara dalam pelbagai bidang.

"Mereka tidak tahan dengan pelbagai pujian mengenai kejayaan Malaysia dan kali ini mahu pula mendedahkan kepada masyarakat umum betapa teruknya kerajaan," katanya.

Dalam pada itu, Prof Madya Dr Zaid Ahmad pula berpendapat selagi tiada bukti dan petunjuk yang jelas, senario itu boleh diandaikan sebagai perang saraf antara parti politik.

"Namun jika benar ada konspirasi, ia mesti disusuli dengan tindakan mendakwa mereka ini atas cubaan menjatuhkan kerajaan yang sah tanpa melalui cara demokrasi," katanya.

Bagaimanapun, katanya adalah tidak adil untuk meletakkan kesalahan kepada pihak luar kerana mereka tidak mempunyai kuasa untuk menentukan hala tuju negara ini. 

- Sumber: Bernama

Sarawak Report block: MCMC can stop spread of malicious propaganda?

He said the action was taken following information and complaints from the public that the website's contents were not verified and still under investigation.

KUALA LUMPUR: The action of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in blocking the Sarawak Report portal can prevent the spread of malicious propaganda which could destabilise the nation, said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

"It not only blocks but can also take legal action and impose a heavy penalty under the Sedition Act, Penal Code and the MCMC Act," he said when contacted by Bernama.

Yesterday, the MCMC in a statement said it decided to block The Sarawak Report website which threatened national security.

He said the action was taken following information and complaints from the public that the website's contents were not verified and still under investigation.

Ismail Sabri who is also a member of the UMNO supreme council said the Malaysian Constitution ensured freedom of speech, but did not tolerate defamation, sedition, falsification of facts and treason to the country.

"Freedom is still subject to the law. I urge that action to uphold the law is immediately taken against social media users who violate it, regardless of their status," he said.

Earlier, a police report had been made alleging that The Sarawak Report had falsified facts about the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Following that, the police have set up a special task force to investigate

the report. 

- Source: Bernama 

Sekat Sarawak Report tak halang akses maklumat

SHAH ALAM - Langkah Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (SKMM) dan kerajaan Malaysia menyekat portal berita Sarawak Report adalah satu kesilapan besar dan bakal memakan diri.

Demikian kata Timbalan Presiden Pas, Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man sambil menyifatkan tindakan itu hanya menyemarakkan keinginan rakyat dan masyarakat antarabangsa untuk membaca pelbagai pendedahan dalam laman tersebut.

“Tindakan ini akan menyebabkan rakyat memberikan kepercayaan lebih kepada Sarawak Report berbanding kerajaan Malaysia.

“Sepatutnya, pihak yang merasakan Sarawak Report sedang menyebarkan fitnah perlu menfailkan saman fitnah terhadapnya,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan, hari ini.

SKMM telah menyekat sementara waktu akses ke laman web pemberi maklumat yang berpangkalan di London itu setelah menerima maklumat dan aduan daripada orang ramai.

Dalam satu kenyataan, badan itu menerima aduan bahawa laman web itu memaparkan kandungan yang masih tidak dapat dipastikan kesahihannya dan sedang dalam siasatan.

Sebelum ini, Sarawak Report didakwa menyiarkan dokumen-dokumen yang diubahsuai dan diperolehi daripada bekas pengarah PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI), Xavier Andre Justo.

Dalam pada itu, Tuan Ibrahim juga berkata, dakwaan mengatakan laman web itu mengganggu kestabilan negara itu tidak berasas.

“Yang mengganggu “kestabilan negara” hari ini ialah masalah 1MDB dan cara 1MDB melangsaikan hutangnya.

“Untuk menjamin kestabilan negara, sepatutnya Pasukan Petugas Khas yang sedang menyiasat 1MDB harus mengemukakan tarikh untuk menyiapkan siasatan secepat mungkin, malah menjamin bahawa hasil siasatan akan dibentang secara awam,” ujarnya.

Sehubungan itu, katanya lagi, jika Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak masih gagal menyaman Wall Street Journal dalam tempoh 14 hari bermula 8 Julai 2015 lalu, Perdana Menteri itu wajar bercuti dalam kadar segera.

- Sumber: Sinar Harian 

I was at Low Yat Plaza, and this is my take on what happened

Astro AWANI's Hafiz Marzukhi at the scene.

The recent incident which took place at Low Yat Plaza highlights the state of the relationship between various races in Malaysia.

I was there when the mob violence broke out, watching the ugly episode unfold before my very eyes.

I witnessed two (Chinese) pressmen being beaten up by the mob, and how we (other pressmen) ushered them towards safety.

There was no 'I am Malay, you are Chinese' sentiment there. As part of the close knit local media fraternity, we all look out for each other.

Despite all that was said (or posted and shared) on social media, I think unity among races in our country is still 'alright'.

I still sit and chat with my fellow Malaysians regardless of race. We eat rendang and ketupat together during Aidilfitri. In fact, some of my close friends are from different races.

However, 'alright' does not quite cut it. As Malaysians, its our duty to maintain the harmonious bond between different races.

Police officers securing the perimeter around Low Yat Plaza during the incident.

You would be ill-informed to think that what happened was purely racial, but I can't blame those who think race had something to do with it either.

Race relations today may not be what they used to be, but I choose to see the positive side of things. Don't blame me for being optimistic.

The main thing that needs change is our mindset.

My mother always taught me not to complain when I fail, because I may have not worked hard enough to succeed.

So, we need to stop blaming others for our collective shortcomings. If you want something, work for it.

We also need to break the notion of ethnic superiority. All men (and women) are created equal.

This ethnic supremacy thing has to stop. No one race is better than the other.

It all boils down to hard work, perseverance and a little bit of God-given talent. It has nothing to do with ethnicity.

So, if you somehow have the audacity to think that one race is better or smarter than another, I am sorry to say but I think you are delusional.

- Source: Hafiz Marzukhi, Astro Awani journalist 

Zoo Negara flooded by visitors during Aidilfitri

The National Zoo in Hulu Klang is synonymous as a destination for family recreation during the Aidilfitri holidays.

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Zoo in Hulu Klang is synonymous as a destination for family recreation during the Aidilfitri

holidays.

Zoology Society of Malaysia deputy director, Rosly @ Rahmat Ahmat Lana said the zoo recorded nearly 12,000 visitors since the first day of 'Syawal' on Friday until Sunday.

"Almost 40 per cent of the visitors are tourists," he told Bernama at the zoo, Sunday.

He said the zoo would organise special activities during public holidays, like Aidilfitri, Christmas, Deepavali and Chinese New Year.

"For example, for this Aidilfitri, we hold a special exhibition for visitors," he added.

Meanwhile, civil servant Suhaidah Manaf, 39, took her family to the Zoo to see the panda pair, Xing Xing and Liang Liang.

"The children have been wanting to see the pandas. That's why I made time to bring them here to see the panda couple," she said.

Tee Leong Seng, 35, from Klang, who is self-employed, also wanted to see the pandas together with his family.

"It was exciting to see the pandas from China. They were sleeping, but just watching them was a meaningful experience," he added. 

- Source: Bernama 

Man found dead in Demi Moore's swimming pool: reports

Moore was not at home at the time, the newspaper quoted Sergeant A. Bone of the Los Angeles Police Department as saying.

LOS ANGELES: A 21-year-old man drowned in the swimming pool of the Beverly Hills home of actress Demi Moore, news reports said Sunday.

Police arrived at the scene in the early hours and found a man who was being treated by paramedics, the Los Angeles Times said, adding that the man was pronounced dead at the scene soon after.

Moore was not at home at the time, the newspaper quoted Sergeant A. Bone of the Los Angeles Police Department as saying.

"From what I understand it was a staff member," he added.

Celebrity website TMZ, citing law enforcement sources, said the man did not know how to swim and appeared to have slipped and fallen into the pool.

Police are investigating.

Moore, 52, has starred in movies including the hit "Ghost" (1990) and "G.I. Jane" (1997).

She was previously married to Ashton Kutcher and before that to Bruce Willis. 

- Source: AFP

Nostalgia malam raya Halim Othman

Halim Othman

MALAM raya menjadi detik yang paling dinantikan penyampai radio terkenal, Halim Othman ketika zaman kanak-kanaknya dan nostalgia itu tetap diingati hingga hari ini. 

"Masa dulu keterujaannya itu akan dilihat pada malam raya di mana kita akan main sembunyi-sembunyi, main tanglung dan macam-macam lagi. Malam raya yang dinantikan. Pagi raya dah lain suasananya.

"Seolah-olah ada 'secret society' di mana budak-budak main sembunyi-sembunyi, gali lubang, main tanglung dan banyak lagi. Orang dewasa sibuk mengemas, memasak. Banyak perkara berlaku di malam raya.

"Perkara itu sudah tidak ada sekarang dan menjadi nostalgia raya. Suasana pun dah berubah," katanya kepada Sinar Online.

Meneruskan tradisi keluarga sejak turun temurun, Halim pulang beraya di kampungnya yang terletak di Kertih, Terengganu sebagai lokasi tradisi semua ahli keluarganya berkumpul pada musim perayaan.

"Saya ada kampung di Kertih, Terengganu. Semakin lama rumah itu makin berkurang penghuninya. Sekarang yang tinggal di sana hanya adik perempuan saya yang bongsu tapi dia ada keluarga di situ. Tradisinya, berpuluh-puluh tahun apabila hari raya, semua keluarga berkumpul di situ.

"Jadi sekarang ini saya pemegang tradisi itu. Abang-abang mungkin sudah tidak dapat balik tapi kerana faktor 'kebebasan' yang saya ada, saya boleh baliklah. Tahun ini saya pulang beraya selama seminggu," katanya.

Sementara itu, Halim sempat menyentuh soal pemberian duit raya yang sudah menjadi tradisi sejak dulu dan menyifatkan ia perlu dikurangkan malah generasi hari ini perlu diajar makna sebenar hari raya.

"Zaman saya ketika usia tujuh, lapan tahun dulu, tidak ada semua itu. Jika ada pun hanya di rumah orang kaya-kaya di mana orang beratur dan diberi RM1. Tapi sebenarnya kita kena ingatkan juga pada adik-adik dan anak-anak kita bahawa raya sebenarnya adalah meraikan kejayaan kita berpuasa selama sebulan.

"Ada yang tak tahu kita beraya untuk apa. Asasnya kita bangun pagi, solat sunat, bermaaf-maafan dan bersyukur kerana berjaya melalui puasa selama sebulan dan kita mengadakan sedikit jamuan yang lebih baik daripada biasa serta pakai baju cantik. Itu sahaja. Yang lain itu adalah dekorasi sahaja. 

"Jadi, pemberian duit raya ini perlu dikurangkan kerana saya rasa itu adalah budaya yang kita tiru dari kaum Tionghua," katanya.

- Sumber: Sinar Harian 

Semua aktiviti terhenti tatkala Tun M hadir

Bazar Ramadan Shah Alam merupakan bazar keempat yang dikunjungi oleh Dr Mahathir tahun ini, selepas bazar di Kampung Baru, Putrajaya dan Keramat.

SHAH ALAM - Teruja! Itulah perkataan yang sesuai untuk menggambarkan perasaan orang ramai tatkala berkesempatan bertentang mata dengan bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Itulah yang terjadi di Bazar Ramadan Shah Alam pada Ramadan lalu, apabila orang ramai seolah-olah terpaku melihat kehadiran Dr Mahathir yang 'turut serta' bersama mereka membeli juadah berbuka puasa.

Apa yang paling menarik Sinar Online adalah reaksi seorang gadis berbangsa Cina yang kelihatan begitu 'bersungguh-sungguh' memahat memorinya bersama bekas pemimpin itu.

"Tun hendak bergambar boleh?" sambil dijawab 'senyuman' oleh Dr Mahathir.

Bukan setakat itu sahaja, gadis itu turut memanggil kawan-kawannya yang lain untuk turut serta berselfie.

Momen itu tidak berakhir di situ, gadis itu rupa-rupanya 'mengekori' Dr Mahathir sampai ke keretanya walaupun dia dilihat sudah puas bergambar.

"Mahu bergambar di kereta pula, mai-mai kawan-kawan kita bergambar lagi," katanya.

Sementara itu, perniagaan di bazar itu seolah-olah 'terhenti seketika' apabila para peniaga juga sanggup meninggalkan gerai masing-masing untuk merebut peluang untuk bergambar bersama Dr Mahathir.

"Tun datanglah ke gerai saya di hujung sana, ada makanan istimewa untuk Tun. Tolonglah Tun datang gerai saya," tutur seorang peniaga makanan berlauk kepada Dr Mahathir yang sanggup berlari kira-kira 100 meter dari gerainya semata-mata untuk menyambut kedatangan tokoh negarawan itu ke gerainya.

Lebih menarik lagi, terdapat seorang peniaga kuih-muih yang secara berseloroh sanggup memberikan gerainya kepada Dr Mahathir kerana berhenti membeli kuih di gerainya.

"Ya ALLAH Tun Mahathir ke, terima kasih Tun kerana sudi datang ke gerai saya. Kalau Tun hendak ambil gerai saya Tun ambillah, saya sanggup 'bina' gerai baru," selorohnya sambil disambut senyuman manis oleh Dr Mahathir.

Dr Mahathir sempat meluangkan masa di bazar berkenaan selama setengah jam.

- Sumber: Sinar Harian 

Sambut Aidilfitri dalam 'reban'

Siapa sangka pondok buruk separuh kekal dan usang ini didiami tiga beranak menumpang teduh daripada panas dan hujan.

JASIN: Siapa sangka pondok buruk separuh kekal dan usang ini didiami tiga beranak menumpang teduh daripada panas dan hujan.

Jika dilihat, ruang kecil pondok ini tidak sesuai untuk didiami keluarga ini.

Namun, bagi Muhammad Salleh Hasan, 64, dan dua anaknya Nur Amirah, 13, dan Nur Arina, 9, di sinilah mereka menginap sejak tiga tahun lalu.

Ruang tamu yang sempit dijadikan tempat tidur beralaskan tilam lama untuk mereka bertiga.

Harapan Muhammad Salleh hanyalah untuk memberikan kehidupan yang terbaik buat anak-anaknya. Namun, apakan daya si ayah yang semakin dimamah usia dan berbekalkan kudrat yang tidak seberapa.

Dengan pendapatan sekitar RM200 sebulan hasil jualan sate pada hujung minggu tidak memadai buat ayah kepada dua anak ini untuk menyara kehidupan mereka.

Biarpun menerima bantuan Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat dan Majlis Agama Islam Melaka berjumlah RM400 sebulan, namun jumlah itu tidak mencukupi apatah lagi setelah ditolak perbelanjaan lain antaranya membayar sewa kediaman sebanyak RM80 sebulan.

Sepanjang Ramadan lalu, hanya nasi putih kosong menjadi hidangan ‘istimewa’ mereka berbuka puasa; malah ada kalanya mereka terpaksa mengikat perut kerana langsung tidak mampu membeli makanan untuk berbuka.

Bagi anak sulungnya Nur Amirah, dia bersama ayah dan adiknya perlu meneruskan hidup biarpun setelah pemergian ibu tersayang lapan tahun lalu.

Katanya, keadaan ayah yang sudah tua menyebabkan beliau sering sakit dan kini kian jarang dapat keluar berniaga.

Pendapatan ayahnya yang tidak menentu menyebabkan dia bersama adiknya Nur Arina tidak dapat menyediakan keperluan pemelajaran dan pernah dimarahi guru kerana tidak mampu membeli buku dan peralatan sekolah.

Bagaimanapun, bagaikan ada sinar baharu bagi tiga beranak ini apabila penderitaan mereka sejak sekian lama mendapat perhatian Putra Specialist Hospital (PSH) dan Pasaraya Besar Tesco.

Pondok yang dahulunya usang dicat semula selain segala peralatan di kediaman itu ditukar ganti demi memastikan keselesaan mereka sekeluarga.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif PSH, Datuk Radhuana Salleh berkata kemiskinan yang dialami keluarga ini seharusnya menjadi iktibar selain usaha untuk membantu mereka agar dapat menempuh kehidupan yang lebih baik.

Menurutnya, tempat kediaman keluarga ini begitu daif dan berpandangan bahawa di dalam era pembangunan semasa, tidak sepatutnya ada insan di negara ini yang masih lagi tinggal di tempat sebegini rupa.

“(Kediaman ini) kita boleh definisikan sebagai bukan sebuah rumah. Namun, Alhamdulillah, dengan sedikit sumbangan ini dapatlah kita ubah pondok buruk ini menjadi sebuah rumah sesuai untuk menyambut Hari Raya,” kata Radhuana.

Sementara itu, Pengurus Penyewaan Tesco Peringgit, Nur Mahirah Musa berkata bantuan yang dihulurkan ini adalah julung kali diadakan secara bersama dengan pihak lain bagi memastikan keselesaan keluarga ini.

“Ini julung kali diadakan. Kerjasama Tesco dan PSH ini sangat unik. Tesco amat berbesar hati turun padang selain memberi sumbangan berbentuk pakaian dan makanan,” kata Nur Mahirah.

Bagi Muhammad Salleh, tiada kata yang dapat diucap selain rasa kesyukuran di atas bantuan yang dihulurkan.

“Saya ucap terima kasihlah kepada orang ramai dengan sumbangan permaidani dan langsir ini. Syukur, Alhamdulillah.

“Terima kasih kepada saudara mara yang membantu. Saya tak tahu nak cakap apa lagi. Syukur, Alhamdulillah,” kata Muhammad Salleh.

Sementara itu, kegembiraan jelas terpancar di wajah anaknya Nur Amirah yang mengharapkan Syawal kali ini membuka lembaran baharu buat keluarganya.

“Saya suka ramai orang datang tolong. Saya suka dapat baju baharu, dapat makan kuih raya, dapat beraya macam rumah kawan-kawan saya semua,” kata Nur Amirah. 

Bagi anda yang ingin membantu, sumbangan boleh dimasukkan ke akaun Bank Simpanan Nasional 0400441000008123 atas nama Muhammad Salleh Hasan atau dihantar ke alamat Jalan Ladang Pasit Berangan Enan Umbai, Merlimau, Melaka.

- Sumber: Astro Awani 

Bayi maut, bapa parah kemalangan di Setiu

Gambar hiasan

SETIU - Seorang bayi perempuan berusia lima bulan maut manakala bapanya cedera parah setelah kereta yang dinaiki mereka terlibat dalam kemalangan di KM41 Jalan Kuala Terengganu-Kota Bharu berhampiran Kampung Sungai Tong di sini, pagi tadi.

Dalam kejadian kira-kira 10.10 pagi itu, Nurul Akma Azmi meninggal dunia di tempat kejadian akibat kecederaan parah di kepalanya manakala bapanya Azmi Mat, 47, cedera parah di kaki kanannya selain dua lagi anggota keluarga mereka cedera ringan.

Kereta yang dipandu Azmi dikatakan bertembung dengan sebuah lagi kereta yang dipandu Muhammad Amirullah Ramlan, 21, dari arah Kuala Terengganu.

Muhammad Amirullah cedera parah pada kaki kanannya selain patah tulang rusuk manakala enam lagi anggota keluarganya cedera ringan.

Pemangku Ketua Polis Daerah Setiu Deputi Superintendan Idris Mohamad ketika dihubungi Bernama hari ini, mengesahkan kejadian itu.

Beliau berkata mayat Nurul Akma dibawa ke Hospital Setiu untuk dibedah siasat dan kesemua mangsa lain turut dirawat di hospital itu.

- Sumber: Bernama | 19 Julai 2015

Queen's Nazi salute as child leaves Britain's royals red-faced

A man reads a copy of the British newspaper The Sun showing on its front page a picture of the young Queen Elizabeth II giving a Nazi salute. - AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'N

LONDON: Britain's royal family suffered a high-profile embarrassment Saturday after a newspaper published images showing Queen Elizabeth II giving a Nazi salute as a young child in the 1930s.

Buckingham Palace voiced disappointment after the front page of The Sun carried a black-and-white image of the queen, then aged around six, raising her right hand in the air as her mother, the late Queen Mother, does the same.

The headline on the story read: "Their Royal Heilnesses" -- a reference to the "Heil Hitler" greeting used in Nazi Germany.

An investigation into how The Sun got the footage has been launched and the palace could take legal action against the newspaper depending on its findings, a royal source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP.

"It is disappointing that film shot eight decades ago and apparently from HM's (her majesty's) personal family archive has been obtained and exploited in this manner," a Buckingham Palace spokesman said in a statement.

While the queen would not have known the significance of the gesture at such a young age, the story will have made uncomfortable reading for the monarch, who is now 89.

Ten years ago, The Sun, a tabloid and Britain's top-selling paper, published a photograph of Prince Harry wearing a swastika armband to a friend's fancy dress party. The fifth in line to the throne later apologised.

Home movie images 

The images showing the Nazi salute come from a 20-second home movie which The Sun reported was shot at the royal family's rural Balmoral estate in Scotland in 1933 or 1934 and has never been made public before.

The video shows the young future queen briefly raising her right hand in the air three times, as well as dancing around excitedly and playing with a corgi.

The group, which also included the queen's sister Princess Margaret, were apparently being encouraged by the queen's uncle, the future king Edward VIII.

The precise nature of Edward's links to the Nazis are still debated in Britain but some historians accuse him of being sympathetic to Adolf Hitler's regime.

He met Hitler in Germany in 1937 after having abdicated as king the previous year over his desire to marry US divorcee Wallis Simpson.

Many documents relating to the turbulent life of Edward, who died in 1972, are still locked away in secret royal archives.

The Sun's managing editor Stig Abell defended the decision to release the images, saying they were obtained "in a legitimate fashion" and that publication was "not a criticism of the queen or the queen mum".

"It is a historical document that really sheds some insight in to the behaviour of Edward VIII," he told BBC radio.

"I understand that they (the palace) don't like this coming out but I also feel, on a relatively purist basis, that the role of journalists and the media is to bring to light things that happened."

It is not clear how the newspaper obtained the images but Buckingham Palace is scrambling to find out.

"We're trying to ascertain where the footage came from," the royal source told AFP. "There are questions about copyright and there may be possible questions about criminality."

'Scale of evil unforeseeable' 

Historian Tim Stanley said that, while Hitler's anti-Semitism would have been clear when the footage was shot, it would have been impossible to foresee World War II and the Holocaust.

"No-one could have predicted the sheer scale of the evil," he told Sky News television.

Hitler became Germany's leader in 1933. By the end of World War II 12 years later, millions of people had been killed in concentration camps, many of them Jews.

The queen paid a state visit to Germany last month during which she visited Bergen-Belsen, her first visit to a former Nazi camp, where some 52,000 people died, including teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank.

As an 18-year-old, the monarch trained as a reserve mechanic and military truck driver during World War II.

The affection in which many Britons still hold the Queen Mother, who died in 2002, is based on her and husband George VI's decision to stay in London during the war and visit bomb sites caused by German aerial attacks known as The Blitz. 

- Source: AFP

Widow of MH17 co-pilot performs husband's final task in Netherlands

Sharifah Asmaa Binti Alwee Aljuned, wife of MH17 first officer Ahmed Hakimi, performs her husband's final task at the MH17 memorial service in Nieuwegein on July 17. - Screencapture Photo

KUALA LUMPUR: Sharifah Asmaa Binti Alwee Aljuned, wife of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17's co-pilot, Ahmed Hakimi Hanapi, performs her husband's final task at the memorial service in Nieuwegein, Netherlands on Friday.

Ahmed Hakimi was among the 298 people killed in the passenger jet which was flying en from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

On behalf of the MH17 crew members, a teary-eyed Sharifah Asmaa who gave a heartwrenching speech said, “looking at all of you, I can’t even begin to imagine the sufferings and sorrows that each of us carries.

“Do we share similar experiences in losing the loved ones? Our journey and grief can never be equated."

“Thus, I pray for all of us to have infinite strength in dealing with our sorrows yet still holding on to the hope and memories that never will be lost,” she added. 

There was pin drop silence in the hall as Sharifah Asmaa, 29, ends her speech by carrying out her husband's final task which was the cabin crew salutation that he never had the opportunity to execute. The passenger jet was shot down in eastern Ukraine moments after it took off from Schiphol International Airport in Amsterdam on that fateful day.

“Before I end my speech, I am compelled to carry out the final task of my husband that he never gets to fulfill.”

“Assalamualaikum and a very good evening ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, I am your first officer, my name is Ahmed Hakimi on behalf of Captain Wan Amran, and assisted by Captain Eugene and first officer Firdaus, we would like to welcome you on board once again Malaysia Airlines, Boeing 777, on flight MH17.

“Weather and route is fine all the way and we will begin our descent shortly. On behalf of Malaysia Airlines and rest of the crews, once again we would like to thank you for flying with us.”

That heartfelt speech received a standing ovation from the audiences, largely made up of the victims' next-of-kin who came from all over the world.

This meeting was organsed by the victims' families with the support of Stichting Vliegramp MH17 at the NBC Congress Center.

Ahmed Hakimi was survived by his wife and 15-month-old son, Abderrahman.

- Source: Astro Awani