Isnin, 20 Disember 2010

The Malaysian Insider :: World

The Malaysian Insider :: World


At least seven killed, hundreds injured in Iran quake

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 06:49 PM PST

TEHRAN, Dec 21 — At least seven people were killed in a 6.5-magnitude earthquake that jolted southeastern Iran yesterday, damaging buildings in outlying mountainous areas, the region's governor said.

"Seven people have been killed and hundreds have been injured. Hundreds of people are still trapped under the rubbles," Esmail Najjar, governor of Iran's Kerman province, the centre of the quake, told the semi-official Mehr news agency.

State television said at least three villages had been destroyed.

The US Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 6.3.

The official IRNA news agency said nine aftershocks had hit since the main quake, including one of magnitude 5. Telephone lines had been cut.

Mohammad Javad Kamyab, an employee of Kerman province governor's office, told Reuters there were 30 villages in the quake-hit area.

"These villages are not heavily populated...We are not expecting a high death toll and so far 25 people have been injured," he said.

Another local official said access to the damaged villages "was very difficult."

"Rescue teams have been dispatched to the quake-hit area ... and are communicating via walkie-talkies," Hossein Baqeri, head of Iran's National Crisis Management unit, told state television.

The semi-official Fars news agency said the quake was also felt in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Many people left their houses in the city of Zahedan ... It was also felt in the towns of Bam, Khash and Iranshahr," Fars reported.

Ali Reza, a resident of Bam, told Reuters by telephone: "There was no damage in the city of Bam but we felt the quake."

The province of Kerman is highly prone to earthquakes. Some 31,000 people were killed when an earthquake razed Bam in 2003.

Kerman is not one of the oil-producing regions of Iran, the world's fourth-biggest crude exporter. Iran is criss-crossed by major faultlines and is frequently hit by earthquakes.

In 2008 a magnitude 6.1 quake struck the southern port of Bandar Abbas, killing at least seven people and injuring 40.

An official in the governor's office of Kerman province told Reuters by telephone: "The quake-hit area is a deserted area."

State television, quoting an unnamed local Red Crescent official, said: "In some rural parts of the region ... the quake has caused heavy damage to buildings, especially in Hosseinabad village, where the houses were made of earthen bricks." — Reuters

 

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UN keeps troops in Ivory Coast, defying Gbagbo

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 06:27 PM PST

Rebel soldiers of Ivory Coast opposition leader Alassane Ouattara walk out of Golf hotel in Abidjan on December 16, 2010 during a clash with Ivorian forces at the hotel. — Reuters pic

ABIDJAN, Dec 21 — World powers voted yesterday to keep UN forces in Ivory Coast, defying incumbent Laurent Gbagbo's demand they leave, and the UN peacekeeping chief said the troops would shoot back if fired on.

Gbagbo faces growing international pressure after European Union countries agreed to impose a travel ban on him and his entourage for failing to step down after a November 28 election the outside world says he lost.

The United States said it was also readying sanctions and repeated its call for Gbagbo to stand down. "It is time for him to go," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Rival claimant Alassane Ouattara is backed by the United Nations, African leaders, Washington and the European Union but Gbagbo still controls the army in a power struggle that has raised fears of civil war resuming in the world's top cocoa grower.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution keeping its peacekeeping mission in place for six more months — a normal extension period. The Council urged the mission "to support, in coordination with the Ivorian authorities, the provision of security for the government and key political stakeholders."

In a separate statement, it warned that anyone responsible for attacks on civilians or peacekeepers could be hauled before an international tribunal.

Noting violence that has already claimed over 50 lives since the contested election, the Council urged the force to fulfil a mandate to protect civilians. But it was not immediately clear that it represented the toughening of the mandate that Ouattara has called for.

Peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said the UN troops were ready to open fire in self-defence and to defend their mandate, which includes the protection of civilians.

"We have the right to open fire in the case of self-defence or in defence of the mandate," Le Roy told Reuters in a telephone interview. "There have already been some attacks on our peacekeepers, and we had to fire back."

Gbagbo's government repeated demands for the force, which first arrived in Ivory Coast in 2004, to leave.

"If, against our will, it wants to keep this force on our territory, we will not cooperate with it. That means the leader of that force will not have a formal interlocutor — how are they going to work?" said Interior Minister Emile Guirieoulou.

Hours earlier, EU countries agreed to impose a travel ban on Gbagbo, his wife and 17 of his close allies.

"We expect the ban to be adopted by tomorrow and come into effect on Thursday, effective immediately," European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters in Brussels, adding that governments were also discussing a freeze on assets.

The EU travel ban list is expected to include top security, ruling party and regular army officials as well as figures in the entourage of Gbagbo and his powerful wife Simone.

"I don't think this will advance things. It just shows that those behind them haven't got much room for manoeuvre," Gbagbo aide Pascal Affi N'Guessan said of the sanctions.

Guirieoulou said of the sanctions: "They make us smile."

Tensions in Ivory Coast have pushed cocoa futures to four-month highs in recent weeks on market fears of disruption to supplies. So far, beans have been getting through to port but there have been delays in registering them for export.

Intended to heal scars in a country ripped apart by a 2002-2003 civil war, the election has only accentuated the divide between the Gbagbo-held south and rebel-held north.

Ouattara's eight-point poll victory was overturned on grounds of alleged fraud by the Constitutional Council, a top legal body led by a staunch Gbagbo ally.

UN mission chief Y.J. Choi accused Gbagbo's camp of a media campaign inciting violence against UN staff and said "armed young men" had harassed some at their homes.

But he said the mission, known as Unoci, would not be deterred. "We remember one of Winston Churchill's maxims: 'If you are going through hell, just keep going'," he said.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay cited on Sunday evidence of "massive" violations in Ivory Coast, saying over 50 people had been killed in the previous three days and hundreds abducted from their homes by armed men.

Outside the UN headquarters, Ouattara supporters said they had been attacked overnight and begged for medical care.

"Masked men attacked us last night," said Salif Kone, 57, a taxi driver who escaped a raid on his Abidjan neighbourhood. "They fired tear gas and bullets. Many were wounded."

Gbagbo's government has denied using excessive force to put down protests last week and says some protesters were armed.

Around 5,000 Ivorians have already fled to neighbouring countries such as Liberia and Guinea, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has said it is making contingency plans for a possible greater exodus. — Reuters

Rebel soldiers of Ivory Coast opposition leader Alassane Ouattara walk out of Golf hotel in Abidjan on December 16, 2010 during a clash with Ivorian forces at the hotel. — Reuters pic

 

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Utusan Online - Luar Negara

Utusan Online - Luar Negara


Paip meletup angkara pencuri

Posted:

Paip meletup angkara pencuri

Paip meletup angkara pencuri


ANGGOTA bomba dan petugas Palang Merah bertungkus-lumus memadamkan kebakaran dan mencari mangsa terselamat di kampung San Martin Texmelucan yang musnah akibat letupan paip minyak Pemex angkara pencuri, dekat Puebla, Mexico, kelmarin. - REUTERS


PUEBLA, Mexico 20 Dis. - Sekurang-kurangnya 28 orang maut dalam letupan saluran paip minyak mentah di tengah Mexico semalam, mencetuskan kebakaran besar yang memusnahkan berpuluh-puluh rumah dan menyebabkan jalan bertukar menjadi 'sungai api'.

Ratusan penduduk lari menyelamatkan diri apabila letupan kuat itu menggegarkan pekan Texmelucan, 100 kilometer ke tenggara Mexico City, sebelum subuh semalam, nahas yang dipercayai berpunca daripada pencuri yang cuba mengalirkan minyak mentah keluar dari saluran paip syarikat minyak Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Bahang api itu begitu panas sehingga menyebabkan jeriji besi menggeleding, cermin tingkap dan pintu pecah, dan kereta menjadi rentung.

Api menjulang dari pokok-pokok yang terbakar, dan anggota bomba menggunakan penyodok untuk membuang lapisan abu yang memenuhi jalan.

"Sekumpulan penjenayah membocorkan saluran paip Pemex dan minyak mentah keluar mencurah tanpa dapat dikawal disebabkan tekanan tinggi.

"Jalan mula dibanjiri minyak, kemudian berlaku percikan api dan kami melihat jalan berubah menjadi sungai api," kata Setiausaha Kerajaan negeri Puebla, Valentin Meneses.

Pegawai perlindungan awam, Laura Gurza berkata, 52 orang cedera manakala 32 rumah musnah sama sekali dalam kebakaran yang akhirnya dipadamkan oleh pasukan kecemasan.

Sebanyak 83 rumah lagi rosak dan Menteri Dalam Negeri, Francisco Blake yang melawat kawasan kejadian memberi amaran angka kematian mungkin meningkat.

Kegiatan mencuri minyak dari saluran paip di Mexico semakin meningkat sejak beberapa tahun lalu, mengakibatkan kerugian 10 bilion peso (RM2.48 bilion) setahun. - AFP

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Enam pengganas Indonesia dihukum penjara hingga 9 tahun

Posted:

Enam pengganas Indonesia dihukum penjara hingga 9 tahun

Enam pengganas Indonesia dihukum penjara hingga 9 tahun

JAKARTA 20 Dis. - Sebuah mahkamah di Indonesia hari ini menjatuhkan hukuman penjara sehingga sembilan tahun ke atas enam lelaki kerana terlibat dalam kumpulan pengganas yang dikenali sebagai 'Al-Qaeda di Aceh'.

Kumpulan itu didakwa menjalani latihan untuk melancarkan serangan ala Mumbai melibatkan beberapa kumpulan kecil penyerang berani mati bersenjata api yang menjadikan kepentingan Barat dan tokoh politik di ibu negara ini sebagai sasaran.

Oman Rohman, 38, dikenakan hukuman penjara sembilan tahun kerana menyediakan wang AS$2,320 (RM7,192) untuk membiayai latihan ketenteraan kumpulan itu di dalam hutan di Aceh, kata Ketua Hakim, Mutarto di mahkamah daerah Jakarta Barat.

"Dia menyerahkan wang itu terus kepada Dulmatin pada akhir 2009 untuk menganjurkan latihan," katanya yang merujuk kepada militan paling dikehendaki di rantau ini sebelum dia dibunuh oleh polis Indonesia pada Mac lalu.

Dulmatin yang didakwa mendalangi serangan bom di Bali yang membunuh 202 orang pada 2002, disyaki mengetuai kumpulan Aceh yang dibongkar oleh polis pada Februari lalu.

Dalam perbicaraan berasingan, mahkamah menjatuhkan hukuman penjara tujuh hingga lapan tahun ke atas lima lelaki kerana menyertai kem latihan kumpulan itu selain memiliki senjata api secara haram.

Hukuman tersebut jauh lebih ringan daripada penjara 12 tahun yang diminta oleh pendakwa raya dan hukuman mati maksimum bagi kesalahan itu.

Beratus-ratus suspek militan telah dibunuh atau ditangkap berhubung rangkaian di Aceh itu, termasuk guru agama yang didakwa menjadi pemimpin dan pembiayanya, Abu Bakar Bashir. - AFP

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Berita Harian: Dunia

Berita Harian: Dunia


Latihan tentera guna peluru hidup

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 02:49 PM PST

Dunia

Provokasi dilakukan Korea Selatan belum mendapat tindak balas Pyongyang

YEONPYEONG: Korea Selatan semalam mengadakan latihan ketenteraan menggunakan peluru hidup dan pesawat pejuang di sebuah pulau sempadan, manakala pendekatan diplomasi Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) gagal mencapai ketetapan berhubung krisis berkenaan.

Dalam reaksinya petang semalam, Korea Utara berkata ia tidak akan bertindak balas kepada latihan ketenteraan oleh Korea Selatan itu, walaupun mengancam untuk melakukannya sebelum ini. "Pasukan keselamatan revolusi tidak merasa perlu untuk bertindak balas terhadap provokasi ketenteraan itu," lapor agensi berita rasmi KCNA, memetik kenyataan Pemerintah Tertinggi Tentera Rakyat Korea Utara, yang menyifatkan latihan itu sebagai 'perbuatan anak kecil bermain api.'

Kementerian Pertahanan Korea Selatan berkata latihan ketenteraan itu bermula kira-kira jam 2.30 petang dan berakhir selepas 4 petang. "Pasukan bersenjata dan pesawat pejuang kami kini berada dalam keadaan berjaga-jaga," kata seorang jurucakap kementerian.

Agensi berita Yonhap berkata dua kapal pemusnah ditempatkan di Laut Kuning di selatan berhampiran sempadan yang dipetikaikan.

Satu mesyuarat Majlis Keselamatan PBB gagal mencapai pendirian berhubung krisis berkenaan, sementara Russia memberi amaran bahawa masyarakat antarabangsa kini tidak mempunyai perancangan bagi mematahkan ketegangan yang semakin meningkat itu.
Pada 23 November lalu, Korea Utara menjadikan latihan ketenteraan yang sama oleh tentera laut Korea Selatan sebagai alasan untuk membedil Yeonpyeong, yang mengorbankan empat orang termasuk orang awam dan memusnahkan berpuluh-puluh rumah.

Jika diancam, serangan balas Korea Utara kepada latihan ketenteraan terbaru ini mungkin lebih dahsyat lagi, dari segi kekuatan dan linkungan serangan.

"Pihak tentera kena mengambil apa juga langkah yang boleh bagi menangani sebarang provokasi oleh Korea Utara," kata Menteri Pertahanan Selatan, Kim Kwan-Jin selepas latihan itu bermula.

Presiden Lee Myung-Bak mengarahkan semua pegawai kerajaan bersiap sedia kemungkinan menghadapi sebarang keadaan kecemasan. Orang ramai di Yeonpyeong juga diminta supaya berlindung di tempat khas ketika latihan ketenteraan itu berlangsung.

Amerika Syarikat yang mempunyai sebanyak 20 pasukan keselamatan di pulau terbabit turut membantu latihan itu semalam, dengan menegakkan hak Korea Selatan mempertahankan diri. Jepun menggesa Korea Utara tidak mengambil sebarang langkah provokasi sebagai tindakan balas.

Korea Utara mempertikaikan kawasan sempadan di Laut Kuning yang dirangka oleh pasukan tentera PBB selepas peperangan 1950-53. Ia mendakwa kawasan perairan di sekitar Yeonpyeong adalah milik mereka.

Tenteranya nampaknya bersedia untuk melancarkan serangan balas, dengan menanggalkan penutup pada senjata artileri, kata sumber ketenteraan kepada Yonhap.

Di PBB, China menolak desakan Barat agar sekutunya, Korea Utara dikecam secara terbuka berikutan bedilan artileri pada 23 November lalu, kata diplomat.

Malah, kata mereka, China turut menolak kenyataan yang dirangka yang tidak menyebut Korea Utara mahupun Yeonpyeong.

"Kini kita mempunyai situasi dengan ketegangan politik serius tetapi tiada tindakan di pihak diplomatik," kata wakil PBB Russia, Vitaly Churkin.– AFP

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Kumpulan ‘al-Qaeda’ Aceh kena penjara

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 02:49 PM PST

Dunia

JAKARTA: Sebuah mahkamah Indonesia semalam menjatuhkan hukuman penjara antara tujuh hingga sembilan tahun ke atas enam lelaki kerana pembabitan mereka dalam kumpulan pengganas yang dikenali sebagai 'al-Qaeda' Aceh.

Kumpulan terbabit didakwa melakukan latihan untuk menjalankan serangan ala Mumbai oleh sekumpulan lelaki bersenjata membabitkan serangan bunuh diri ke sasaran Barat dan tokoh politik di Jakarta.

Oman Rohman, 38, menerima hukuman penjara sembilan tahun kerana menyediakan sejumlah AS$2,320 (RM7,192) untuk bayaran kepada latihan kumpulan itu di hutan di wilayah barat Aceh, kata ketua hakim, Mutarto kepada mahkamah Jakarta Barat. Dalam satu perbicaraan berasingan, mahkamah menjatuhkan hukuman tujuh sehingga lapan tahun penjara kepada lima lelaki kerana menghadiri kem latihan terbabit dan memiliki senjata api haram.

Hukuman berkenaan lebih ringan berbanding 12 tahun yang diminta pendakwa dan hukuman penalti mati mandatori. – AFP


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The Star Online: World Updates

The Star Online: World Updates


NEWSMAKER - Lukashenko, bogeyman for both West and Russia

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 07:32 AM PST

REUTERS - Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who began a fourth term as president on Monday after big street protests against his re-election, is a Soviet-style strongman who portrays himself as a man of the people while muzzling dissent.

The burly former state farm boss has dominated the ex-Soviet republic since taking office in 1994, doling out generous welfare and pensions from a command economy underpinned by cheap Russian gas and tax-free crude oil.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks to the media at a polling station during presidential elections in Minsk, December 19, 2010. (REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko)

On Sunday, he secured nearly 80 percent of the vote in a poll that his opponents say was rigged and which brought tens of thousands out in protest on the streets.

Several presidential candidates and hundreds of opposition supporters were being held on Monday after riot police broke up opposition protests.

The moustachioed, blunt-speaking 56-year-old was dubbed Europe's "last dictator" by the Bush administration and has been equally treated as a pariah by the European Union for most of his rule.

But he has equally irked the Kremlin by his eccentric style of rule and has snubbed Moscow, Belarus's chief benefactor, several times on foreign policy issues.

Analysts say his overtures now to the West are motivated by concern for the sustainability of Belarus's Soviet-style command economy, but they see only cosmetic concessions to the West.

A keen ice hockey player, Lukashenko is proving himself adept at playing one side off against the other, reflecting the location of the country of 10 million people sandwiched between Russia and the European Union and NATO.

But he could face a rougher ride over the next five years. He patched things up with Moscow before the election with a deal over oil and gas pricing, but the ceasefire is short of a peace deal.

The European Union, three of whose member states border Belarus, will want to capitalise and press Lukashenko for economic and political liberalisation.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the democracy and rights watchdog, on Monday condemned vote counting in the election as "flawed" and said the police had been too violent in dealing with demonstrators.

In typical combative style, Lukashenko hit back, defending the police, dismissing members of the opposition as being bent on "banditry" and denouncing the OSCE verdict as "amoral".

Lukashenko has used such straight speaking to good effect to burnish his image at home as a down-to-earth man of the people and father of the nation.

"

"SEVER BUT FAIR"

Severe but fair", is how he describes himself. His opponents, on the other hand, are "enemies of the people."

Reviled by the West and the domestic opposition for jailing critics and throttling independent media, Lukashenko enjoys broad support in rural areas and among older voters, many of whom know him affectionately as 'batka', or father.

"I am not ideal, I am a normal person just like you," he is fond of telling people.

His aversion to reform is a major draw with voters scared of economic experiments and the perceived harshness of capitalism.

In 1991, Lukashenko was the only member of Belarus's parliament to vote against the treaty that dissolved the Soviet Union. He shot to prominence two years later with an acid election campaign that demonised the country's leaders and propelled him to the presidency in 1994.

He has shown no sign of rescinding power since.

Lukashenko is married but lives separately from his wife, with whom he has two grown up sons. He has a third child, Nikolai, who is about six years of age.

The president has courted controversy by frequently taking Nikolai on official business and state visits. In 2009, the pair wore matching camouflage caps and uniforms to meet Belarussian generals, who were obliged to salute both father and son.

On Sunday, Nikolai, wearing a suit, cast his father's ballot.

(Writing by Matt Robinson and Richard Balmforth; editing by Mark Heinrich)

Copyright © 2010 Reuters

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Lukashenko backs Belarus crackdown after poll win

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 07:32 AM PST

MINSK (Reuters) - At least seven election candidates and hundreds of opposition demonstrators were being held on Monday after police cracked down on a protest against the re-election of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

A riot policeman chases an opposition protester during a rally denouncing the results of presidential elections in central Minsk December 19, 2010. (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)

Lukashenko, who immediately came under fire from international election monitors for flawed vote counting and police heavy-handedness, accused demonstrators of banditry.

"There will be no revolution or criminality in Belarus," he said, adding that security forces had stood firm against "barbarism and destruction" by militants.

Lukashenko also described criticism by an observer mission from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the democracy and human rights watchdog, as amoral.

After a night of mayhem in central Minsk involving riot police and thousands of demonstrators, the central election commission declared in the early hours that Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had secured nearly 80 percent of the vote.

Opposition parties say supporters of the 56-year-old former Soviet state farm director had rigged his re-election at the vote counting stages, much as they had in 2006.

In a verdict that could have implications for Belarus's future relations with the West and the European Union, the OSCE mission described the election vote count as flawed and said police action against demonstrators had been heavy-handed.

"This election failed to give Belarus the new start it needed," Tony Lloyd, head of the short-term OSCE observer mission told a news conference.

A positive judgment by the OSCE had been seen as key to possible EU financial aid for the ex-Soviet republic's economy.

A combative Lukashenko said the OSCE had no right to look at events outside the election itself. "We did everything they had asked of us," he told a news conference just an hour after the OSCE had delivered its verdict.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton criticised the violence and called for authorities to release those arrested. Poland and Germany also expressed concern over the vote.

However, a parallel observer mission from the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States gave the election a clean bill of health.

In Moscow, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the election was an "internal matter" for Belarus. He did not comment on the police crackdown.

In a Belarus Interior Ministry statement, police justified their action, saying protesters had tried to storm the main government building.

On Sunday night up to 10,000 people marched through the snow-bound capital chanting "Out!", "Long Live Belarus!" and other anti-Lukashenko slogans in one of the most significant challenges to his iron-fisted, 16-year rule.

Then riot police waded in, beating people with batons on Independence Square. Some protesters in the ex-Soviet republic threw stones and snowballs at police.

THREAT OF JAIL

Several people were left sprawled on the ground. Others were bundled into police cars.

One opposition leader, Vladimir Neklyayev, was beaten by police who fired into the air to disperse a column of supporters trying to join the main rally.

His wife, Olga, said he was later taken by police from his hospital bed, where he had been recovering from head injuries. She had tried in vain to find out from the authorities where her husband was. "They either answered that they didn't know, or wouldn't answer at all," she told the OSCE news conference.

Apart from Neklyayev, 56-year-old Andrei Sannikov and at least five other candidates out of the nine who ran against Lukashenko were being held, the pro-rights Vyasna (Spring) website and opposition aides said.

The state prosecutor's office said some protest leaders could face up to 15 years in jail for stirring mass unrest.

The Interior Ministry statement, focusing on an attempt by some demonstrators to break down the door of a government building, said: "A peaceful meeting grew into an attempt to seize the building of the Council of Ministers by storm."

Many demonstrators had been drunk and the police had later recovered wooden sticks, metal bars and empty bottles, it said.

The EU is weighing how far to engage with the country of 10 million on its eastern flank, amid tension between Lukashenko and chief benefactor Russia.

Lukashenko crushed dissent in the early years of his rule, jailing opponents and muzzling the media. The administration of former U.S. President George Bush called him Europe's "last dictator".

Under Lukashenko, Belarus's command economy has been propped up by energy subsidies from Russia. The country serves as a buffer between Russia and NATO and a transit route for Russian gas heading to Europe.

But relations with Moscow have been on the rocks in recent years and the EU has been dangling the prospect of financial aid if Sunday's vote was deemed fair.

(Writing by Richard Balmforth and Matt Robinson; additonal reporting by Lidia Kelly, Gabriela Baczynska in Warsaw, Luke Baker in Brussels, Brian Rohan in Berlin and Denis Dyomkin in Moscow; editing by David Stamp)

Copyright © 2010 Reuters

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Kosmo Online - Dunia

Kosmo Online - Dunia


WikiLeaks masih berfungsi

Posted:

WikiLeaks masih berfungsi

WikiLeaks masih berfungsi


RUMAH yang didiami oleh Assange di Ellingham selepas dia dibebaskan dari penjara di London pada Khamis lalu.


ELLINGHAM, United Kingdom - Bekas penggodam yang kini menjadi amat terkenal, Julian Assange (gambar kecil) semalam menyatakan laman web WikiLeaks yang diasaskannya masih berfungsi dengan lancar walaupun Bank of America menghentikan transaksi kewangan ke laman itu.

Dia membuat kenyataan itu semasa tinggal di rumah rakannya yang juga seorang wartawan di sini setelah dibebaskan daripada tahanan dengan ikat jamin pada Khamis lepas.

Assange ditahan atas dakwaan dia mencabul dan merogol dua wanita di Sweden.

Penggodam yang juga wartawan itu ditahan pada 7 Disember lalu oleh polis Britain semasa dia berada di Britain.

Namun, dia perlu melaporkan diri di sebuah balai polis berhampiran dan memakai tag elektronik.

Menurut pihak Bank of America, pihaknya menghalang transaksi itu kerana percaya bahawa WikiLeaks mungkin terlibat dengan aktiviti yang tidak sesuai dengan dasar dalaman bank berkenaan.

Sebelum ini, MasterCard, PayPal dan Visa Europe turut menghalang transaksi ke laman berkenaan.

Laman web WikiLeaks telah mendedahkan lebih 250,000 kabel diplomatik yang mengandungi maklumat sulit Amerika Syarikat (AS).

Maklumat itu turut mengandungi komen pemimpin AS terhadap ketua kerajaan negara lain.

"Kita merupakan pertubuhan yang kuat. Semasa saya berada di dalam kurungan, kami meneruskan penyiaran maklumat pada setiap hari dan ia tidak akan berubah," kata Assange.

Dalam perkembangan pendedahan WikiLeaks kelmarin, pendakwa raya Mahkamah Jenayah Antarabangsa menyatakan siasatan sedang dilakukan berhubung dakwaan Presiden Sudan, Omar al-Bashir memasukkan AS$9 bilion (RM28.21 bilion) ke dalam akaun-akaun bank. - Agensi

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Hurley berpisah dengan kekasih angkara SMS seks

Posted:

Hurley berpisah dengan kekasih angkara SMS seks

Hurley berpisah dengan kekasih angkara SMS seks

LONDON - Pelakon filem Bedazzled, Elizabeth Hurley bertindak memutuskan hubungan dengan bekas bintang kriket dari Australia, Shane Warne, lapor sebuah akhbar semalam.

Hurley, 45, memutuskan hubungan cintanya itu selepas mendapat tahu bahawa Warne menghantar khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) yang mengandungi mesej seks kepada seorang wanita Australia yang sudah berkahwin.

Warne, 41, yang berharap akan berkahwin dengan pelakon itu dikatakan berasa amat kecewa dan tidak dapat tidur kerana bimbang dengan skandal terbarunya itu.

Kelmarin Hurley membuat kenyataan di laman Twitter bagi meminta supaya laporan yang mendakwa dia akan menghabiskan masa bersama dengan Warne di Australia dihentikan.

Warne menerima satu lagi tamparan apabila Hurley menyatakan dia tidak merancang untuk menceraikan suaminya, Arun Nayar yang merupakan taikun dari India.

"Bosan, kini terdapat banyak spekulasi bodoh, tidak ada seorang pun yang menceraikan seseorang, belum lagi. Tiada mana-mana pihak yang berebut wang dan saya tidak merancang untuk pergi ke Australia. Cukuplah," kata Hurley dalam Twitter.

Hubungan Hurley dengan Warne mendapat liputan seminggu lalu di Britain selepas akhbar News Of The World menyiarkan gambar mereka bercium di dalam sebuah lif hotel.

Apabila berita itu disiarkan, Hurley mengesahkan dia telah berpisah dengan suaminya manakala Warne turut mengakui sudah menamatkan hubungan dengan bekas isterinya. - Agensi

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Harian Metro: Global

Harian Metro: Global


Warne patah hati ditinggal Liz

Posted: 19 Dec 2010 08:35 AM PST

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LONDON: Hubungan antara aktres Elizabeth Hurley dan bekas pemain kriket Australia, Shane Warne berakhir selepas dia menghantar 100 mesej pesanan ringkas (SMS) berbaur seks kepada seorang wanita yang sudah berkahwin.

Warne, 45, dikatakan patah hati apabila Liz meninggalkannya begitu cepat selepas pelakon itu berpisah daripada suaminya, Arun Nayar. Bagaimanapun, Liz mengambil tindakan tegas dan tidak memberi peluang kepada playboy Australia itu yang sememangnya mempunyai reputasi yang buruk.


Warne dipercayai sudah meniduri lebih 1,000 wanita dan berlaku curang kepada isterinya, Simone beberapa kali. Liz pula malam tadi menghantar mesej ke laman Twitternya dan memberitahu keadaan dialaminya boleh dimuatkan dalam rancangan The Jerry Springer Show.

Liz menulis: "Er...tolong sebutkan saya dalam ruangan paling menyeronokkan dalam rancangan Jerry Springer." Warne dikatakan memberitahu temannya bahawa dia ingin mengahwini Liz, 45. Namun, pada masa sama, dia didakwa cuba memikat ibu dua anak warga Australia, Adele Angeleri apabila menghantar puluhan mesej kepada wanita itu.


Adele yang mengelolakan butik pakaian bertentangan dengan ibu pejabat kebajikan dimiliki Warne, Yayasan Shane Warne di Melbourne, sebelum ini pernah menemui Warne untuk cadangan perniagaan.


Mereka saling bertukar nombor tetapi Warne mula menghantar wanita berusia 40 tahun itu mesej lucah.

Satu ketika, Warne menulis dia sedang memerhatikan Adele dari pejabatnya dan memberitahu wanita itu nampak seksi.


Suami Adele, Denis Angeleri yang bekerja sebagai peguam meminta penjelasan isterinya ketika menemui mesej itu. Bagaimanapun, Adele memberitahu hubungan mereka sekadar bertukar mesej dan tidak pernah berjumpa Warne yang sudah berpisah dengan Simone. Angeleri, 47, yang berang turut berbicara dengan Warne melalui telefon tetapi bekas pemain kriket itu hanya berdiam diri saja bila Angeleri meminta penjelasan mengenai hal itu. - Agensi

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Wanita disyaki bunuh, kerat tubuh anak

Posted: 19 Dec 2010 08:33 AM PST

LONDON: Seorang wanita ditahan malam tadi selepas anak perempuannya yang berusia empat tahun mati dibunuh dan mayatnya dikerat.

Mayat kanak-kanak yang terburai isi perut itu ditemui dengan jantung dan organ lain tubuhnya dipotong serta diletakkan di bilik berbeza dalam flet dihuni keluarganya.


Wanita beragama Islam, Shayma Bharuchi, 35, didapati sedang duduk di kerusi goyang di sebelah mayat anaknya, Nusayba di dapur ketika suaminya pulang.

Dia sedang mendengar bacaan ayat al-Quran yang dimainkan di alat MP3 melalui fon kepala.


Keadaan mengerikan itu ditemui bapa Nusayba, Jerome Negney, 36 ketika sampai di flet keluarga itu di Clapton di London Timur, tengah hari kelmarin.


Shayma dikatakan menikam anaknya dan kemudian mengerat tubuh kanak-kanak itu mengikut upacara mandi darah.

Negney yang dipercayai seorang mualaf membuat panggilan kecemasan sebelum ahli paramedik mengesahkan Nusayba sudah mati di tempat kejadian. Shayma yang turut mempunyai dua lagi anak berusia 14 dan 16 tahun dan tiada di rumah ketika kejadian berlaku kemudian ditahan.


Doktor yang memeriksa Shayma mengesahkan dia tidak sihat untuk disoal siasat polis dan dikelaskan di bawah Akta Kesihatan Mental. Jiran tetangga semalam memberitahu mereka menyaksikan Shayma menangis ketika dibawa dua anggota polis dari flet tempat tinggalnya.

Seorang wanita berusia 30-an berkata: "Shayma sentiasa memakai hijab hitam yang hanya menampakkan matanya. Saya juga sering mendengar jeritan dia dan suaminya bertengkar dari flet itu. Ada kala pertengkaran mereka terdengar sangat serius." Polis masih melakukan pemantauan di luar flet itu semalam ketika pegawai khas penderaan kanak-kanak memulakan siasatan.


Shayma pula masih lagi ditahan. - Agensi

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