The Malaysian Insider :: world

FBI director says surveillance drones used in US

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:09:30 GMT

Unmanned drones are roaming American skies conducting surveillance on people in the United States, albeit in a "very minimal way," the head of the FBI revealed to Congress on Wednesday. Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller said his agency's use of a small number of aerial drones is relatively new, and that the bureau has only ...

China threatens death penalty for serious polluters

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:06:29 GMT

Chinese authorities have given courts the powers to hand down the death penalty in serious pollution cases, state media said, as the government tries to assuage growing public anger at environmental desecration. An increasingly affluent urban population has begun to object to China's policy of growth at all costs, which has fuelled the economy for ...

Stop force-feeding Guantanamo prisoners, says US senator

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:56:06 GMT

US Senator Dianne Feinstein urged the Pentagon yesterday to stop force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba and called the practice "out of step" with medical ethics and international norms.Feinstein, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, sent a letter to Defence Secretary ...

Iraqi Shi’ites flock to Assad’s side as sectarian split widens

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:21:56 GMT

Among the Iranian pilgrims, foreign executives and tourists in the departure lounge at Baghdad airport, a group of young Iraqis prepare to wage religious war in Syria - not for the rebels trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad but against them. Dressed in jeans, their hair cropped short, the 12 men awaiting their flight are Iraqi Shi'ites, ...

Sao Paulo, Rio revoke transport fare hikes as protests continue

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:12:25 GMT

Brazil's two biggest cities agreed on Wednesday to revoke an increase in public transportation fares that set off demonstrations that have grown into nationwide protests against poor public services, inflation and corruption. The decisions, made separately in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, followed another day of protests across Brazil, which ...

Assange says WikiLeaks assisting Snowden asylum bid

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:04:21 GMT

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Wednesday he had been in contact with representatives of Edward Snowden to discuss his possible bid for asylum in Iceland following his disclosure of US surveillance programs. In a conference call with reporters, Assange said he had been in contact with representatives of Snowden, who has been based in Hong ...

Nigeria bans satellite phones in Islamist battleground

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:18:59 GMT

Nigeria's military banned the use of Thuraya satellite phones on Wednesday in northeastern Borno state, a step it said was designed to stop Islamist militants communicating. President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno and two other states on May 14, ordering extra troops in to try to crush Islamist sect Boko Haram, whose ...

Laos heading towards `worst dengue epidemic In Its history’’

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:56:48 GMT

A total of 31 people died in Laos this year due to dengue, out of the 7,920 people infected, China's Xinhua news agency reported, citing Lao government statistics. The high number of cases indicated dengue may soon reach epidemic proportions in Laos, a senior official in the Lao Ministry of Health warned in a speech during an event to mark Asean ...

Republican-led US House passes Bill restricting abortion

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:34:17 GMT

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives in Washington passed legislation that would ban late-term abortions, a move that could alienate women from the conservative party.The Bill, which would exempt women who are victims of rape or incest as long as they first report the crime to authorities, has no chance of becoming law with ...

Australia, Iran and South Korea head for Brazil

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:05:10 GMT

Australia and Iran booked their fourth World Cup finals appearances with nervous 1-0 victories in a dramatic finale to Asian qualifying on Tuesday.South Korea joined them and Japan in qualifying for the finals after sneaking through on goal difference and Uzbekistan and Jordan retained hope of making it five Asian sides in Brazil after taking the ...

United States to meet Taliban to seek Afghan peace

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:47:31 GMT

The United States will meet the Taliban this week for talks aimed at achieving peace in Afghanistan, where U.S.-led forces and the insurgents have fought a bloody and costly war for the past 12 years, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The Taliban opened an office in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Tuesday to help restart talks and said it wanted a ...

Lebanese minister accuses Syria of ‘ethnic cleansing’

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:38:14 GMT

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces have begun ethnically cleansing Sunni Muslims and deliberately pushing refugees across the border into Lebanon, the Lebanese caretaker minister for social affairs said in Beirut yesterday. Assad is battling a Sunni-led revolt in Syria, which he and his father before him have ruled for four decades. He ...

Rousseff salutes Brazil protests, cities cut bus fares

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:25:13 GMT

President Dilma Rousseff sought to defuse a massive protest movement sweeping Brazil, acknowledging the need for better public services and more responsive governance as demonstrations continued in some cities around the country. Speaking the morning after more than 200,000 Brazilians marched in over a half-dozen cities, Rousseff said her ...

China’s attempts at stabilising frothy property market show effect

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:50:59 GMT

China’s home price rises slowed for a second straight month in May from the previous month, in a sign that Beijing’s attempts to bring stability to a frothy property market are having some effect. However in year-on-year terms, prices rose at their fastest pace this year, highlighting the dilemma facing authorities looking to support an economy ...

Shah Rukh Khan faces ‘baby sex test’ inquiry

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:33:51 GMT

Health officials in India are investigating reports that top Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan knows he and his wife are expecting a baby boy. Maharashtra state health minister Suresh Shetty said he had instructed his officials to conduct the inquiry, according to a BBC report. An Indian medical association had written to the ministry, calling for ...

Jetsetting, brand-loving Buddhist monks

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:53:39 GMT

A video showing Buddhist monks indulging in a lavish lifestyle has sparked nationwide outrage in Thailand. According to the Associated Press report, run by The Malaysian Chronicle, Thailand's national Buddhism body was taking steps to monitor monks’ inappropriate behaviour around the country after the footage emerged on YouTube last month. The ...

SaltSmart plan to fight heart disease, strokes, kidney failure

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:20:30 GMT

A multi-sector consortium convened by the Pan American Health Organisation and the World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) has endorsed a plan to reduce dietary salt consumption to prevent cardiovascular disease in the Americas by half by the year 2020. Currently, average salt consumption in most of the region’s countries is twice the recommended ...

Asian children have weight problems, says Aussie study

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:48:20 GMT

Primary school children from Middle-Eastern and Asian backgrounds are significantly more overweight than children from English-speaking backgrounds and have lower levels of physical activity and cardiovascular fitness, new research has shown. Paper co-author Dr Debra Hector from the University of Sydney's School of Public Health, said the ...

New bird flu: Thailand, Laos join forces to fend it off

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:01:00 GMT

Thailand and Laos have stepped up bilateral cooperation on practical responses to any possible outbreak of the new deadly A (H7N9) strain of avian influenza, the Thai News Agency reported.As part of the bilateral cooperation, a workshop was organised yesterday in Thailand's northeastern Nong Khai province, drawing together Thai and Lao ...

Snowden rejects suggestions he is a spy for China

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:16 GMT

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who exposed the US government's top-secret surveillance programs, fought back against his critics on Monday and denied allegations that he was a spy for China. Snowden told an online forum run by Britain's Guardian newspaper that he revealed the programs in part out of disappointment ...

Jury finds no negligence in trial over man’s 8-month erection

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:42:12 GMT

A jury in cleared a doctor of negligence in a lawsuit filed by a Delaware truck driver who underwent a penile implant procedure and ended up with an erection that lasted eight months. "We're stunned," attorney Michael Heyden said as he left the New Castle County courthouse in Wilmington, where his client Daniel Metzgar, 44, of Newark, Delaware, ...

Greek court orders state TV reopened, compromise nears

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:49:19 GMT

A Greek court in Athens has ordered the state broadcaster back on air while it is restructured, allowing squabbling coalition leaders to move towards a compromise that avoids early elections. The ruling came six days after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras suddenly switched ERT off to save money and please foreign lenders, sparking an outcry from ...

Sporadic clashes in Turkey as Erdogan asserts authority

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:23:08 GMT

Sporadic clashes between police and protesters flared up in Istanbul overnight after a weekend in which Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan sought to steal back the agenda, rallying his supporters and expelling demonstrators from an Istanbul park. Two union federations called a nationwide strike for Monday over the forced eviction of protesters ...

Bible-burning Egyptian cleric jailed for 11 years

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 17:05:32 GMT

A Cairo court sentenced an Egyptian Muslim preacher to 11 years in jail for blasphemy on Sunday for burning a Bible during a protest last year outside the US embassy. Convictions for insulting Islam are common in Egypt, ruled by Islamists after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, but more rare for cases involving the minority ...

Zimbabwe’s Mugabe says rivals scared of ‘sure’ defeat

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 16:47:29 GMT

President Robert Mugabe accused political rivals of seeking to delay elections in Zimbabwe because they fear defeat, after regional leaders urged his ruling coalition to ask the courts to extend a July 31 deadline for holding the vote. His rivals said reforms to restrictive media and security laws were essential for any fair election to be held ...

Power outages hit Mexico City after quake in country’s centre

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 06:59:28 GMT

MEXICO CITY, June 16 - Power outages hit the Mexican capital of Mexico City on Sunday after an earthquake struck the centre of the country, and officials said there was no other damage reported.Some restaurants and residential buildings in the capital were evacuated as a precautionary measure, they said.Buildings shuddered in the city, a Reuters ...

North Korea wants to hold high-level talks with US

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 06:45:52 GMT

SEOUL, June 16 — North Korea on Sunday offered high-level talks with the United States to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula, only days after it cancelled planned official talks with South Korea for the first time in over two years.Planned high-level talks between North and South Korea were scrapped last week after the North abruptly called off ...

Iran’s new president hails landslide win a ‘victory of moderation’

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 06:09:27 GMT

DUBAI, June 16 — Moderate cleric Hassan Rohani won Iran's presidential election on Saturday with a resounding defeat of conservative hardliners, calling it a victory of moderation over extremism and pledging a new tone of respect in international affairs.Though thousands of jubilant Iranians poured onto the streets in celebration of the victory, ...

Police raid on Istanbul park triggers night of rioting

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 05:38:58 GMT

ISTANBUL, June 16 — Thousands of people took to the streets of Istanbul overnight on Sunday, erecting barricades and starting bonfires, after riot police firing teargas and water cannon stormed a park at the centre of two weeks of anti-government unrest.Lines of police backed by armoured vehicles sealed off Taksim Square in the centre of the city ...

Moderate Rohani looks on way to outright Iran election victory

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 10:53:17 GMT

DUBAI, June 15 - Moderate cleric Hassan Rohani soared to a huge lead over conservative rivals in preliminary vote counting on Saturday, suggesting he may be able to pull off a surprise outright victory in Iran's presidential election.The outcome is unlikely to radically alter relations between Iran and the world or lead to a shift in the Islamic ...

61 in 1,000 babies die before age 5 in India

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:53:40 GMT

NEW DELHI, June 15 - Sixty-one out of 1,000 children in India don't live until their 5th birthday, with 80 per cent of deaths occurring in the first two years of life, a survey said.The National Family Health survey attributed lack of proper infant feeding to the deaths, reported Press Trust of India (PTI).About 46 per cent of infants under six ...

Moderate cleric Rohani leads early Iran election results

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:09:08 GMT

DUBAI, June 15 - Moderate cleric Hassan Rohani took a commanding lead ahead of conservative rivals in Iran's presidential election, according to initial results, but his tally appeared narrowly insufficient to avoid a second round run-off on June 21.With about 5 percent of the votes counted, the former nuclear negotiator appeared to have benefited ...

US to increase military support to Syria rebels

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 01:20:28 GMT

WASHINGTON, June 14 – President Barack Obama has authorised sending US weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, a US official said yesterday after the White House said it had proof the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against opposition forces fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. The US decision came as Assad’s surging ...

Explosion at Louisiana chemical plant kills one, injures 73

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:33:41 GMT

GEISMAR, Louisiana, June 14 – An explosion and fire killed one person and injured 73 at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, yesterday, unsettling an industrial town where authorities ordered people to remain indoors for hours to avoid the billowing smoke. The blast at 8:37am (1337 GMT) sent a huge fireball and column of ...

Turkey seeks negotiated end to anti-government protests

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 23:32:54 GMT

ISTANBUL, June 14 – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the governor of Istanbul today made what appeared to be final efforts to end two weeks of anti-government unrest by negotiation, meeting opponents of controversial plans to redevelop a city park. Erdogan met a delegation mostly made up of actors and artists but also including two ...

Visitor sprays paint on UK queen portrait at Westminster Abbey

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:03:17 GMT

LONDON, June 13 — Police said they had arrested a man after a portrait of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth was defaced with paint at Westminster Abbey today. The painting, by Australian-born London-based artist Ralph Heimans, had been part of a display marking the 60 years since the queen’s coronation in 1953. "In an incident at lunchtime today, a ...

Turkey’s Erdogan says patience run out with protesters

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:43:10 GMT

ISTANBUL/ANKARA, June 13 — Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said today his patience had run out after almost two weeks of anti-government protests and gave a final warning to those occupying a central Istanbul park to leave. In a speech at a meeting of his Justice and Development (AK) Party, Erdogan struck back at criticism from the European ...

Snowden as a teen online: Anime and cheeky humour

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:01:39 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, June 13 – Long before Edward Snowden became known worldwide as the National Security Agency contractor who exposed top-secret US government surveillance programs, he worked for a Japanese anime company run by friends and went by the nicknames “The True HOOHA” and “Phish”. In 2002, he was 18 years old, a high school dropout, and his ...

Former Singapore Civil Defence Force chief jailed

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:40:47 GMT

SINGAPORE, June 13 – The former commissioner of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Peter Lim was today sentenced to six months’ jail. Local television Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported that Lim, 53, was convicted on May 31 of corruptly obtaining a sexual favour from 49-year-old Pang Chor Mui, a director at Nimrod Engineering, in May 2010. The ...

Egypt to auction luxury gifts received by officials

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:35:32 GMT

CAIRO, June 13 — Egypt will auction off pricey gifts received by its senior government officials next week, including luxury watches and a solid silver sword, with proceeds going into the public coffers where they belong, the government said today. Cartier and Omega timepieces, silk rugs, ornate vases and a model boat will be among the items on ...

Rights groups criticise Iran for pre-election harassment

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:14:04 GMT

DUBAI, June 13 — Human rights groups have criticised Iran for curbing dissidents and journalists before tomorrow’s presidential poll, the first since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election ignited popular fury in 2009. From the disqualification of high-profile candidates to controls on campaigning and televised debates, the authorities have ...

Ethiopia ratifies Nile treaty in snub to Egypt

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:59:13 GMT

ADDIS ABABA, June 13 — Ethiopia’s parliament unanimously ratified today a treaty that strips Egypt of its right to the lion’s share of the Nile river waters, raising the political temperature in a dispute between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the construction of a dam. The parliament’s move follows days of irate exchanges between two of Africa’s most ...

Czech police detain prime minister’s aide

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:39:24 GMT

PRAGUE, June 13 —Police from the Czech Republic’s organised crime unit today detained a senior aide to Prime Minister Petr Necas, local media reported, in raids on several government offices that were confirmed by police and ministry officials. Necas himself was visited by the head of the police unit and two state attorneys, Interior Minister Jan ...

Tide of humanity, as well as rising seas, lap at Kiribati’s future

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:26:56 GMT

SOUTH TARAWA (Kiribati), June 13 — The ocean laps against a protective seawall outside the maternity ward at Kiribati's Nawerewere Hospital, marshalling itself for another assault with the next king tide. Inside, a basic clinic is crowded with young mothers and newborn babies, the latest additions to a population boom that has risen as ...

Ex-CIA man’s snooping claims raise alarm bells in Hong Kong

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:25:24 GMT

HONG KONG, June 13 — Fresh revelations by former CIA employee Edward Snowden have raised concerns that the US National Security Agency (NSA) may have hacked into Hong Kong's key internet exchange, which handles nearly all the Chinese territory's domestic web traffic. In an interview in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper published ...

UN documents 93,000 deaths in Syrian conflict

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:20:57 GMT

GENEVA, June 13 — The death toll in Syria reached at least 93,000 at the end of April, but the true number from the violence now in its third year may be much higher, the United Nations human rights office said today. An average of more than 5,000 people have been killed every month since July, while the Damascus region and Aleppo have recorded ...

Brazil police say eight firemen evaded duty at deadly nightclub blaze, TV reports

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:31:34 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 13 – Brazilian police accused eight firefighters of dereliction of duty for their alleged failure to enforce fire codes at a nightclub where a January 27 blaze resulted in the deaths of 242 people, the Record TV network reported yesterday. The accused, all men, were responsible for inspections of the Boate Kiss nightclub in ...

Iranian Gmail users targeted in pre-election hacking campaign, says Google

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 03:42:36 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, June 13 – Tens of thousands of Gmail accounts belonging to Iranian users have been targeted in an extensive hacking campaign in the weeks leading up to the country’s closely watched presidential elections tomorrow, Google Inc said yesterday. The US Internet company, which described the attacks as broad “email-based phishing” ...

West to discuss aid with Syria rebel leader; insurgents kill Shi’ites

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 02:13:15 GMT

BEIRUT, June 13 – Western officials will on Saturday meet the commander of the main force fighting President Bashar al-Assad to discuss new aid, diplomats said, signalling a new bid to help mainstream rebels and counter the strength of sectarian militias. Underscoring the West’s fears of an uncontrolled sectarian bloodbath, activists said Sunni ...

Greeks strike over state TV closure as backlash grows

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:36:05 GMT

ATHENS, June 13 – Greek workers are staging a nationwide strike today, forcing hospitals to work on emergency staff and disrupting transport, in protest against the “sudden death” of state broadcaster ERT, switched off in the middle of the night by the government. Greece’s two biggest labour unions plan to bring much of the near-bankrupt country ...