The strong export data — up 10.1 percent over last year — comes after earlier figures showed the world’s third-largest economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration works to stoke growth with a plan dubbed “Abenomics”.

The yen’s sharp drop since late last year makes Japanese exporters more competitive overseas and inflates the value of their repatriated overseas earnings.

“It is not just the weaker yen increasing the value of exports, the amount of exports is increasing as well,” Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan, told Dow Jones Newswires.

“This shows Japanese companies are increasingly in better shape… Their profitability is also rising these days, meaning they are becoming more resilient to potential external shocks,” she added.

However Hideki Matsumura, senior economist at The Japan Research Institute, warned that returning to a trade surplus could be some way off.

“In order for us to see a surplus, we need to see a significant increase in export quantity, as well as a resurgence in overseas economies,” Matsumura said.

In April, new leadership at the Bank of Japan — handpicked by Abe — vowed to hit a two-percent inflation target within two years, jack up asset purchases including government bonds, and double the money supply.

The ambitious target, a key part of Abe’s bid to stoke the deflation-plagued economy, is aimed at reversing years of falling prices that have crimped private spending and business investment.

Last week, the BoJ said the economy was “picking up” as it held off ramping up April’s huge stimulus scheme, part of a wider plan that includes big government spending and structural reforms to the lumbering economy.

On Wednesday, finance ministry data showed that Japan’s trade deficit expanded 9.5 percent from a year earlier to 993.9 billion yen ($10.4 billion), the longest running string of monthly deficits in three decades.

But May’s deficit was smaller than expected as the market had forecast a shortfall of around 1.2 trillion yen.

Exports rose 10.1 percent to 5.76 trillion yen, growing for the third straight month on higher shipments to the United States and China.

But exports to recession-hit Europe remained weak, falling 4.9 percent.

Imports meanwhile also climbed 10.0 percent, an increase for the seventh consecutive month, as costs of fuel and other items jumped due to a weaker yen.

Japan’s fuel imports have soared as most of its nuclear reactors remain off-line since the huge earthquake and tsunami in 2011 sparked the world’s worst atomic accident in a generation. –AFP

The battalion has had a highly successful time in Brunei, working closely with the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) both in exercises, notably during the joint Ex Hikmat Bersatu 4 exercise last year and sporting activities.

The visit was His Majesty’s first to the British Military Base, British Forces Brunei since June 2006.

His Majesty, seen clad in a multi-terrain patterned military uniform, was greeted Upon arrival at the HQ Brunei Garrison by the 2RGR’s Commanding Officer, Lt Col Marcus Reedman. His Majesty was received by a guard of honour mounted by18 Gurkha soldiers led by Capt Gajendra Angdembe.

The monarch, who is also the Minister of Defence and Supreme Commander of the RBAF, later inspected the soldiers on parade and was presented with a ceremonial Kukri, the famous knife of the Gurkhas.

The visit continued with a briefing on the 26 Gurkha Victoria Cross recipients. His Majesty later addressed the junior soldiers and Non-Commissioned Officers as he walked through the barracks.

The monarch also toured a weapons display by the Support Company 2RGR which demonstrated the battalion’s armed capabilities, including sniper rifles and weapons being used in Afghanistan such as the 60mm mortar.

His Majesty also visited the weapons simulation before laying a wreath at the recently-opened Afghan Memorial Wall, built as a memorial to the 14 Gurkha officers and soldiers who have lost their lives serving in Afghanistan.

His Majesty then met hundreds of pupils from the Hornbill School, the British Forces Brunei. The school accommodates over 480 students from three to 11 years of age and about 150 teaching and non-teaching staff.

At the school, His Majesty was briefed on its activities and projects and interacted with schoolchildren comprising both Nepali children of Gurkha soldiers and children of British military personnel.

Before concluding the visit, His Majesty met with officers and their wives at the garrison’s Officers’ Mess in Mumong and consented to join a group photo at the mess lawn.

The infantry battalion is supported by a small number of garrison troops that are permanently stationed in Brunei.

In addition, Brunei serves as one of the British Army’s major training areas, specialising in jungle warfare, with the Jungle Warfare Training School (also known as Training Team Brunei) running the Jungle Warfare Advisor’s Course and the Military Tracking Instructors Course in conjunction with the infantry battalion. The garrison has about 1,500 personnel.

Also present at the event yesterday were the outgoing British High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam, Rob Fenn, and the Commander of the RBAF, Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin.

Authorities called in military helicopters to try to rescue residents and pilgrims cut off by rising rivers and landslides triggered by more than three days of rain in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, officials said.

“We are unable to confirm the number of deaths since most of the communication lines have broken down across the state,” the state minister for disaster and relief said.

“But at least 60 people are feared dead and nearly 50,000 are stranded,” Yashpal Arya told AFP.

Among those killed were four members of the same family, who died when their home was hit by a landslide as they slept, in Kasta village near the state capital of Dehradun, local officials said.

Television footage showed bridges, houses and multi-storied buildings crashing down and being washed away by the swirling waters. A swollen river is seen engulfing a giant statue of Lord Shiva in the tourist hub of Rishikesh.

Rising water levels in some towns have also swept up cars, earthmoving equipment and even a parked helicopter, as a result of the surprise rains which have lashed the state since Saturday.

Roads in many areas have been destroyed, leaving hundreds of pilgrims stranded on their way to visit shrines in remote areas. Authorities have cancelled pilgrimage trips, fearing further rains and landslides in the state, often referred to as the “Land of the Gods” because of its many Hindu temples and other sites.

Fresh rains in some districts were hampering rescue efforts, with teams from the national disaster management authority camping in the popular pilgrimage town of Haridwar awaiting air lift to the worst-affected districts, officials said.

The state government was also readying food parcels and drinking water to be dropped by helicopters to remote villages.

“The situation is very grim. The meteorological office has predicted that the rain will continue for another three days at least,” government official Amit Chandola was quoted by television stations as saying. — AFP

The leaders of the Group of Eight most industrialised nations are still working out the exact wording of the communique that they will issue at the end of the two-day summit in Northern Ireland, officials from two Western nations told AFP.

The statement is likely to focus on less contentious issues such as the need to push for a peace conference in Geneva and on humanitarian aid, one official said on condition of anonymity.

Syria was discussed for a second time yesterday during a session on counter-terrorism, following a lengthy discussion during the leaders’ dinner on Monday, another source said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron had drawn up a list of five areas that he thought there could be agreement on with Putin at the dinner.

An official said there were “very frank” discussions at the dinner, especially on the issue of chemical weapons.

The United States, Britain and France say President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have used nerve gas but the regime’s ally Russia says there is no evidence to support their claims.

However there was agreement on the need for a transitional authority that would include all communities in Syria,
which is increasingly divided along sectarian lines after more than two years of conflict.
— AFP

The Unicorn Logger, a Panama-flagged freighter, ran aground at a protected marine sanctuary off the tiny island of Sambawan on Friday, coastguard spokesman Armand Balilo said.

“The crew are detained aboard their vessel as the damage to the reef is assessed,” he told AFP.

The ship was carrying logs from Malaysia to Japan when it hit the reef, Balilo added.

A central Philippines coastguard spokesman, Ensign Jamaal Aceron, told AFP the ship will be towed for repairs to a shipyard in the central port of Cebu once the extent of the damage on the vessel is determined.

It was the latest in a series of maritime incidents at protected Philippine reefs this year.

A US Navy minesweeper ran aground at Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage-listed marine sanctuary in the southern Philippines in January, leading to fines for reef damage and the dismantling of the ship.

A Chinese fishing vessel also ran aground at Tubbataha in April, causing even more damage. The crew were arrested and charged for damaging the reef as well as for carrying endangered mammals. — AFP

“It is necessary to avoid tightening the sanctions pressure against Tehran and start thinking about ways for a possible weakening (of sanctions) in a way that is tangible for Iran,” Lavrov said in an interview with Kuwaiti news agency KUNA

His remarks came following the victory of moderate Hassan Rowhani in Iran’s presidential election, which raised cautious hopes about a continuation of the progress seen in talks between world powers and Iran in Almaty, Kazakhstan earlier this year.

“For the first time in many years, hopeful signs have appeared in this process,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov said he believed that Iran was now ready to agree to suspend efforts to enrich uranium to 20 per cent, which could prove to be a crucial moment after years of stalemate in the talks.

“This could be a breakthrough agreement and to a large extent remove the acuteness of the existing problems,” said Lavrov, saying concessions by Iran needed to be met with similar steps by world powers.

Iran has been slapped with successive rounds of UN Security Council sanctions and also unilateral measures by the United States and the European Union.

The sanctions initially only targeted the nuclear and defence industries but have now started to hurt the wider economy, causing concern among ordinary Iranians and even the leadership. — AFP

The video, which has been viewed nearly 200,000 times on YouTube, has prompted fevered debate in the Buddhist-dominated kingdom over monks’ adherence to austere principles which include living without possessions, beyond a handful of robes.

According to one of the monks, who has since been ‘reprimanded’, the jet was chartered by a devotee to fly them home to northeast Si Sa Ket from Bangkok after performing duties in November, said Nopparat Benjawattantnun, director of the National Office of Buddhism.

“His behaviour — wearing sunglasses and carrying a Louis Vuitton handbag — amounts to an ostentatious display that will provoke criticism from laymen,” Nopparat said.

Virood Chaipanna, director of Si Sa Ket’s Office of Buddhism, named the monk as Luang Pu Nenkham Chattigo, 34, from Wat Pa Khantitham.

“Yesterday I went to the temple but he was not there. They said he is in France,” Virood said.

Buddhism is Thailand’s state religion and around 95 per cent of the population is believed to follow it — the highest percentage in the world.

Figures last year from the National Office of Buddhism showed Thailand had more than 61,000 monks.

Their behaviour frequently falls under the spotlight with media reports uncovering cases of clergy taking drugs, drinking, gambling and visiting prostitutes.

“To be in the monkhood one should be isolated and content with what one has,” said Pra Khru Vinaithorn Teerawit, of the Buddhism Protection Center of Thailand, adding complaints are most commonly made against newly ordained monks.

Referring to the video, he said the public reaction should depend on whether the monks chose to travel by private jet or if it was organised by followers.

“If monks chose to travel by jet then it’s not suitable,” he said.

The video can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playeríembedded v=sANFgwoJeicask-apv/apj/dr — AFP

The owner, who kept the animals in a public housing apartment, could be jailed for two years and fined up to Sg 500,000 (US$297,000), the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said in a statement.

The 32 animals included a Sunda slow loris, a nocturnal tree-dwelling primate; a common marmoset, a small monkey with a long tail; and three ball pythons, which are popular in the pet trade because of their docile nature.

There were also three black-tailed prairie dogs, several types of tortoise, five ornate horned frogs, an iguana, a gecko and a degu, a small rodent endemic to central Chile.

“The seizure, which includes highly endangered and threatened species like the slow loris, marmoset, Indian star tortoise and ball python, is AVA’s largest inland seizure of wildlife since 2002,” the agency said in a statement.

“A man is currently assisting AVA in the investigations.” Residents in public housing, where most Singaporeans live, are only allowed to keep approved pets such as non-endangered birds, aquarium fish and one small dog per household.

The animals, which were rescued earlier this month, are now in the care of a company running the Singapore Zoo, said the AVA, which raided the flat after a tipoff. — AFP

Singapore’s Pollutant Standards Index stood at 115 as offices opened — still above the ‘unhealthy’ threshold of 100 but down from the peak reached late Monday when the entire island was shrouded by a smoky haze.

Most commuters walked in bright sunshine yesterday without covering their faces despite the lingering smell of burnt wood in the business district.

The Ministry of Manpower has urged employers to issue protective masks to staff with heart and respiratory problems, and those working outdoors. The elderly and children have also been told to reduce strenuous outdoor activity.

The pollutant index soared to a peak of 155 late Monday, the highest since Southeast Asia’s prolonged haze crisis in 1997-1998, but eased off overnight.

On Monday, Singapore urged Indonesia to take ‘urgent measures’ to tackle its forest fires as smoke blown from Sumatra island choked the densely populated city-state as well as parts of Malaysia.

But the Indonesian forestry ministry said firefighters were already tackling the blazes and water-dropping aircraft would be deployed if local governors made a request.

A ministry official, Hadi Daryanto, also attempted to shift some of the blame onto Malaysia and Singapore, saying their palm oil companies that had invested in Indonesia were also responsible.

“The slash-and-burn technique being used is the cheapest land-clearing method and it is not only used by local farmers, but also employees of palm oil investors including Singaporean and Malaysian companies,” he said.

“We hope the governments of Malaysia and Singapore will tell their investors to adopt proper measures so we can solve this problem together.” But Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s minister for environment and water resources, kept up the pressure on Indonesia.

In remarks carried yesterday by Singapore media, he said ‘commercial interests in Indonesia have been allowed to override environmental concerns.’ He repeated an offer of help from Singapore, which has a modern military and civil defence system including firefighters. — AFP

Protesters hurling Molotov cocktails clashed with police firing tear gas and water cannons late Monday, as lawmakers approved measures paving the way for a reduction in crippling fuel subsidies in Southeast Asia’s top economy.

As police braced for hundreds to converge on parliament for a second day of protests against the expected 30 percent increase in fuel prices, ministers said the government would not back down.

“The fuel price will go up,” Finance Minister Chatib Basri insisted, saying it was just a matter of finalising the details before an announcement, which is expected in the coming days.

“The hike is very important because of global economic uncertainty,” he added, referring to a sell-off on emerging markets this month that has sent Jakarta stocks and the rupiah plummeting.

Vice President Boediono urged citizens to “stay calm” and not hoard fuel, as reports emerged that people were starting to stockpile subsidised petrol before the price rockets.

Police in West Java and Lampung provinces seized thousands of litres of fuel allegedly bought in anticipation of a price hike and detained several people, while state energy firm Pertamina said sales had increased three to four percent in recent days.

The price of fuel is expected to increase on average 33 per cent, with petrol jumping from from 4,500 rupiah (US$0.46) a litre to 6,500 rupiah, and diesel from 4,500 rupiah to 5,500.

Following a marathon parliamentary session on Monday, lawmakers agreed on a revised budget that included a package of measures to compensate the millions of poor people likely to be hit hardest.

Poor households will receive 15 a month each for the next four months to offset the impact of the fuel hike, which is expected to cause the cost of everyday goods to go up as they will be more expensive to transport.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had insisted on the measures before any fuel hike, which will come at a sensitive time as parties gear up for elections in 2014.

Eight thousand people demonstrated across Jakarta during the debate, with thousands outside the national parliament hurling Molotov cocktails, fireworks and bottles at police in riot gear, who fought back with tear gas and water cannons.

Eighty-eight protesters were detained at the Jakarta protest but police said they would be released yesterday. One protester received a minor injury, according to police.

At least 14 other people were injured in protests across the country.

Yudhoyono has been seeking to lower the huge subsidies for some time and last year came close. — AFP

Police in eastern Jiangsu province arrested Gu Yimin, an odd-job worker, on Friday on ‘suspicion of inciting subversion of state power’, marking the first time the charge has been used since President Xi Jinping took office in March.

Gu had been held in a detention centre in Changshu city in Jiangsu since early June, his wife said. The centre could not be reached for comment.

Inciting subversion is a charge that in the past was commonly levelled against critics of one-party rule.

The charge against Gu is the most significant of a series of police actions over the past three months against people who have demanded freedom of assembly.

Between late March and May, authorities detained 15 anti-corruption activists involved in demonstrations calling for government officials to publicly disclose their assets, according to Maya Wang, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Gu, 37, applied in late May for permission to demonstrate on June 4, the 24th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, his wife, Xu Yan, told Reuters. Chinese authorities rejected Gu’s application.

Gu had also forwarded several photographs commemorating the movement on his microblog, including one that said: “By the expiry date of 2013, remove the Chinese Communists; on June 4, the city was slaughtered”.

“He possibly wanted to restore a bit of history, to let more people know about June 4,” Xu said by telephone. “I think this charge is a little heavy. If as a mere ordinary person, he could subvert state power, then this country’s state power is too easily subverted.”

Public discussion of the crackdown is still taboo in China, where on June 3 and June 4, 1989, its leaders ordered troops to open fire on demonstrators and sent in tanks to crush a student-led campaign movement, killing hundreds.

The Communist Party has banned references to the crackdown in state media, the Internet and books, meaning most young Chinese are ignorant of the events.

State security officers told Xu that his crime was tied to “distributing photographs and writing a statement related to June 4”, she said. On yesterday, police took away the family’s router, saying they needed to investigate the crime.

Xi’s ascendancy in a once-in-a-decade generational leadership transition last November had given many Chinese hope for political reform, mainly due to his folksy style and the legacy of his father, Xi Zhongxun, a former reformist vice-premier.

But many human rights activists say they see an emerging pattern that suggests Xi is not as tolerant of dissent as some had hoped for.

“There were such hopes before Xi’s new leadership that he would be the man who would take China forward on key issues including human rights, but these recent arrests of rights activists send a worrying signal that he might not have the appetite for real change at all,” said Wang of Human Rights Watch. — Reuters

By combining gravity and topography data collected by satellites, the scientists from Curtin University in Western Australia were able to use computer modelling to at first identify two basins on the far side of the Moon. They later developed a high-resolution image to find a total of 280 ‘candidate basins’ which they suspect are craters.

“There are many more (craters) that have been mapped from optical observations or from just the shape of the topography,” researcher Will Featherstone told AFP.

“So there’s many, many craters that were already known, we’ve just been able to apply this technique to enhance the ones that aren’t so easy to see.

“What we have been able to use is the topography and the gravity together to get a stronger indication that there is something there that needs further investigation.”

Featherstone said the researchers looked at the lunar surface on both the near and far sides of the Moon, the dark side being more challenging because satellites cannot be tracked from Earth when they are on that side.

To get around this, the researchers used data gathered from a mission which used multiple satellites which were tracking each other as they circled the Moon.

“So whe n the satellite orbiting the Moon went behind the far side and they couldn’t be seen from Earth, they could be seen by other satellites,” he said.

Featherstone said of the 280 possible craters, the researchers had classified 66 of them as distinctly visible according to both gravity and topography.

“Scientists can, instead of looking at every square inch of the Moon looking for basins, they can target these areas,” he said.

“It just helps investigations of the Moon and the history of the Moon and the solar system,” he added. The team has also done some work on the gravity of Mars and Featherstone said other data sets were also available for Venus and other planets.

He said scientists were optimistic about further discoveries from applying their techniques to new gravity data from NASA’s GRAIL mission, which ended in late 2012 when the two satellites – named Ebb and Flow – were deliberately crashed on the Moon. — AFP

East Japan Railway (JR East) said it wanted to find a couple who would like to tie the knot aboard the usually heaving Yamanote Line, in the company of up to 120 friends and family.

“We expect applications from couples who are somewhat attached to the Yamanote line, including those who live nearby,” said JR East spokesman Yoichi Suzuki. “But they need not necessarily be rail fans.”

Guests will have exclusive use of the 11-car train, which normally carries around 1,000 tightly-packed commuters.

The train will take an hour to travel the around the 35-kilometre Yamanote line, stopping at all 29 stations but not opening its doors.

The nature of the journey will pose one possible challenge — there is no toilet aboard.

“The guests will be warned well in advance. I think this is all the same for ordinary weddings,” said Suzuki.

The event has officially been planned to mark the 50th year that Yamanote line trains have been painted yellow-green. — AFP

Researchers want to introduce a human stem cell into an animal embryo, to create a so-called ‘chimeric embryo’, which they can implant into an animal’s womb.

The hope is that this stem cell will grow into a fully-functioning human organ — a kidney or a liver, for example — as the animal matures.

This would mean when the creature is fully grown, the organ could be harvested from the animal and used for transplanting into a person in need.

“Experts will study what possibilities this kind of research will generate,” especially with regard to ethics and human dignity, a government official told AFP.

The panel of government-appointed scientists, law professors and journalists will meet later Tuesday.

Its recommendation will be sent next month to a government committee which is expected to begin drafting guidelines shaping the boundaries of Japan’s cutting-edge embryonic research.

Unlike in the United States, there is little public opposition to the research, with domestic media coverage overwhelmingly positive, reflecting relatively high levels of scientific literacy among the population at large.

Japan currently allows scientists to grow chimeric embryos for up to two weeks in test-tubes, but prohibits them from putting those embryos into an animal’s womb, the official said.

In the proposed experiment, researchers, led by Hiromitsu Nakauchi of Tokyo University, want to implant a chimeric embryo made from a fertilised pig egg and a human “induced Pluripotent Stem cell” (iPS) into a pig’s womb, he said.

Stem cells are infant cells that can develop into any part of the body.

Until the discovery of iPS cells several years ago, the only way to obtain stem cells was to harvest them from human embryos.

This is controversial because it requires the destruction of the embryo, a process to which religious conservatives, among others, object.

Pioneering work done in 2006 by Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University, a Nobel Laureate in medicine last year, succeeded in generating stem cells from skin tissue.

Like embryonic stem cells, iPS cells are also capable of developing into any cell in the body, but crucially their source material is readily available.

“We’ll see if the experiment goes well, but if we succeed in producing a human organ, the rest of the work toward practical use would be done within five years,” Nakauchi told AFP. — AFP

Speaking at a military academy outside Kabul, President Hamid Karzai said the police and army were ready to take on insurgents, but a bomb in the city underlined persistent instability.

Three civilians were killed in the attack, which targeted a prominent lawmaker as his convoy travelled to parliament just before the handover ceremony began.

“Our security and defence forces will now be in the lead,” Karzai told Afghan and Nato officials at the event, the timing and location of which had been kept secret due to fears of a militant attack.

“From here, all security responsibility and all security leadership will be taken by our brave forces,” he said.

“When people see security has been transferred to Afghans, they support the army and police more than before.”

Doubts remain over the ability of Afghan forces to thwart the Taliban, and the Nato military coalition will retain an important function in logistics and air support as well as in combat emergencies.

But Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that by taking the lead in security on Tuesday, Afghan forces were completing a five-stage transition process that began in March 2011.

“They are doing so with remarkable resolve,” he said.

“Ten years ago, there were no Afghan national security forces…now you have 350,000 Afghan troops and police, a formidable force,” he said.

“We will continue to help Afghan troops in operations if needed, but we will no longer plan, execute or lead those operations, and by the end of 2014 our combat mission will be completed.”

The handover of the last 95 districts from Nato to Afghan control includes areas in the south and east where the Taliban have concentrated their bloody insurgency since 2001.

As Afghan soldiers and police take over the fight against the militants, who were ousted from power after the 9/11 attacks, the 100,000 Nato troops will focus on training and mentoring roles.

But recent attacks have demonstrated the Taliban’s ability to strike at Kabul as the country prepares for presidential elections next year and the Nato withdrawal by the end of 2014.

Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a leader of the ethnic Hazara minority who is likely to play a key role in April’s presidential vote, was unhurt in Tuesday’s bomb attack but his clothes were burnt.

“Four of my guards are wounded and are in hospital,” he told AFP.

“I was going to the parliament and it was near the office of the Independent Human Rights Commission. I heard a big explosion on the side of the car. Only my cloak is a little burned, other than that I’m fine.”

The lawmaker said that he had been threatened.

“The intelligence agency was sending letters that I should be careful. There was a threat against me. I was rarely going to the parliament.”

Mohammad Zahir, the police investigations chief in Kabul, told reporters at the scene that three civilians were killed and 24 others, including some guards, were wounded when the improvised explosive device detonated.

On Tuesday last week, a suicide car bomb killed 15 civilians outside the Supreme Court in Kabul.

The previous day, gunmen fired grenades at the city airport and an international aid group’s compound was targeted in a seven-hour battle late last month. — AFP

The marches, organised mostly through snowballing social media campaigns, blocked streets and halted traffic in more than a half-dozen cities, including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Brasilia, where demonstrators climbed onto the roof of Brazil’s Congress building and then stormed it.

Monday’s demonstrations were the latest in a flurry of protests in the past two weeks that have added to growing unease over Brazil’s sluggish economy, high inflation and a spurt in violent crime.

While most of the protests unfolded as a festive display of dissent, some demonstrators in Rio threw rocks at police, set fire to a parked car and vandalised the state assembly building.

Vandals also destroyed property in the southern city of Porto Alegre.

Around the country, protesters waved Brazilian flags, dancing and chanting slogans such as ‘The people have awakened’ and ‘Pardon the inconvenience, Brazil is changing.’

The epicentre of Monday’s march shifted from Sao Paulo, where some 65,000 people took to the streets late in the afternoon, to Rio. There, as protesters gathered throughout the evening, crowds ballooned to 100,000 people, local police said.

At least 20,000 more gathered in Belo Horizonte.

The demonstrations are the first time that Brazilians, since a recent decade of steady economic growth, are collectively questioning the status quo.

The protests have gathered pace as Brazil is hosting the Confederation’s Cup, a dry run for next year’s World Cup soccer championship.

The government hopes these events, along with the 2016 Summer Olympics, will showcase Brazil as an emerging power on the global stage.

Brazil also is gearing up to welcome more than 2 million visitors in July as Pope Francis makes his first foreign trip
for a gathering of Catholic youth in Rio.

Contrasting the billions in taxpayer money spent on new stadiums with the shoddy state of Brazil’s public services, protesters are using the Confederation’s Cup as a counterpoint to amplify their concerns. — Reuters

The 29-year-old former contractor for the National Security Agency dismissed allegations he was a traitor or a Chinese agent, and insisted he had exposed a dangerous US global surveillance network that threatens the privacy of millions.

US President Barack Obama’s administration has protested that the programs exposed by Snowden’s leaks were vital to protecting US citizens from terrorism, but the revelations have triggered an embarrassing global debate.

Snowden, who fled last month from his job at an NSA base in Hawaii to Hong Kong carrying with him a cache of secret documents, is unrepentant, and he vowed to expose more details about how US agents spy on private emails.

“More detail on how direct NSA’s accesses are is coming,” he said, in an online interview hosted by The Guardian newspaper, repeating his allegation that US federal agents have access to private users’ Web traffic.

The government has opened a criminal probe into Snowden’s acts and partially confirmed his allegations by defending the programs to access Internet data and phone records, saying that they have thwarted dozens of terror attacks.

The degree to which US agencies have direct access to private communications stored on servers operated by private Internet giants has proved to be one of the more controversial aspects of the revelations.

Firms like Google and Facebook say they provide information only when presented with a court order, and deny that they have effectively given the NSA “back door” access directly to their data banks.

But Snowden repeated his claim that almost any intelligence analyst with access to the NSA signals intelligence database could target almost anyone’s emails or phone metadata and that warrants are rarely audited.

“They can enter and get results for anything they want,” he said.

“Phone number, email, user ID, cell phone handset ID (IMEI) and so on. It’s all the same. The restrictions against this are policy-based, not technically-based, and can change at any time,” he said.

Snowden alleged that Americans’ communications were collected and consulted on a “daily basis,” with analysts having access to all details associated with a targeted email address, such as IP addresses, raw data, content, headers and attachments.

“They excuse this as ‘incidental’ collection, but at the end of the day, someone at NSA still has the content of your communications,” he added. — AFP

The 98-year-old, under house arrest since last year, is listed by the Simon Wiesenthal Center as its most-wanted alleged Nazi war criminal.

The Nazi-hunting organisation says that Csatari was a senior Hungarian police officer in charge of the Kosice ghetto, in what is now Slovakia.

It says that in this role, he helped organise the deportation to Ukraine and the Nazi death camp Auschwitz of some 15,700 Jews between 1941 and 1944.

He was sentenced to death in absentia in 1948 by a court in what was then Czechoslovakia.

Csatari, whose full name is Laszlo Csizsik-Csatari, sometimes spelt Csizsik-Csatary, was arrested on July 18, 2012 in Budapest on the basis of information provided by the Wiesenthal Center.

Csatary had fled to Canada after World War II but apparently lived undisturbed in Hungary for about 15 years before his arrest.

At a court hearing last July he denied all the accusations.

“S ince we are talking here about an extraordinary case, the court has 90 days to begin trial proceedings,” a spokesman for the public prosecutors office told AFP yesterday. — AFP

Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum was picked up by police at his home in the early morning hours and taken in for questioning, only months after casting himself as the man to lead the city out of a myriad of scandals.

Immediately after the news broke, Montreal City Council called for the nomination of a new mayor to replace Applebaum within 30 days.

Otherwise, the province could take over management of the second-largest francophone city in the world, after Paris, until the next scheduled elections in November.

Two former city councilors, including one with ties to Canada’s ruling Conservatives, were also arrested in the police sweep.

They face a total of 23 federal charges, including fraud, collusion, breach of trust and corruption. Details of the accusations were not immediately available.

Applebaum is accused of having received illicit commissions in two real estate development deals in the neighborhood he represented on the Montreal City Council between 2006 and 2011, authorities told a news conference.

“These were bribes that influenced a decision, approvals or permit distribution,” one of the investigators said.

The trio’s arrest comes amid a corruption probe that has gripped the city for more than a year and led former mayor Gerald Tremblay to resign in November, as well as the arrest in a sweep last month of nearby Laval’s longtime mayor for alleged fraud and gangsterism.

Authorities said that former Montreal city councilor Saulie Zajdel was arrested with Applebaum. Zajdel was a failed Conservative candidate in the last federal election and thereafter briefly worked in Heritage Minister James Moore’s office.

The third arrested politician, Jean-Yves Bisson, is a former borough manager in Cote-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace, where Applebaum served as mayor for a decade.

Officials said they expected more arrests in the coming days.

Applebaum, Zajdel and Bisson were to be released later in the day and are scheduled to appear in court to answer to the charges in October, police said. — AFP

The preliminary hearing, focused on rules over monitoring interactions between attorneys and their clients, marked the first time the five had been in court since February.

The co-defendants sat calmly with none of the outbursts that marked previous sessions. Self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed wore a camouflage jacket and white turban, with his thick beard died a reddish orange.

Journalists and relatives of the victims heard the court room exchanges, with a 40-second delay, in an adjoining gallery and at the Fort Meade base in Maryland, which received a feed.

Two former New York policemen who were injured in the attacks also attended the hearing.

The preliminary hearings, set to last through Friday, come amid a widespread hunger strike that has lasted more than four months by nearly two thirds of the 166 terror suspects still held at Guantanamo.

A total of 104 detainees are now refusing food, with 44 of them being force-fed through a nasal tube into the esophagus, according to prison spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Samuel House.

It is unclear whether the accused plotters are participating in the strike, and they did not appear thinner at the hearing.

Defence lawyer Commander Walter Ruiz earlier said his client Mustafa al-Hawsawi had at one point refused food in solidarity with his fellow prisoners.

Defence attorneys questioned retired vice admiral Bruce MacDonald, who previously oversaw the special military tribunals, about rules he approved allowing prison officials to listen in on client-attorney meetings.

MacDonald, speaking via teleconference from the northwestern US state of Washington, said he had asked to record and tap all telephone conversations between the five men and their lawyers.

All declarations by the five men, considered “high-value” detainees who face the death penalty” are considered classified because they were held at secret CIA sites before being transferred to Guantanamo.

Mohammed was subjected to 183 sessions of waterboarding, or simulated drowning, at the black sites. “Waterboarding is torture,” MacDonald said when asked about the so-called enhanced interrogation technique. — AFP

He cited two cases, one involving two businessmen and another involving three people, including a 20-month-old baby, who were killed when they were thrown out of their vehicles in road crashes reported this year They were not wearing seat belts.

Having been thrown out of the vehicles, the victims were then run over by other vehicles, he told Bernama.

He said in most cases when victims of road crashes were thrown out of their vehicles it was because they were not wearing safety belts.

Despite various campaigns to wear safety belts, many people still do not wear them, even if it is for their own safety, he told Bernama.

Based on the Road Transport Department (RTD) statistics, 47,972 summon notices, worth RM14.3 million, were issued to motorists for not wearing safety belts since 2010.

Lee said despite the RM300 fine imposed on motorists for not wearing safety belts, many still did not wear it.

Hence, the need for campaigns to instill awareness among motorists to avoid fatalities in road crashes, he added.

The wearing of seat belts for rear passengers was enforced on Jan 1, 2009 following a study by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) which found that fatalities in road accidents could be reduced by 40 to 50 per cent if the drivers and passengers wear seat belts. — Bernama

State Customs Department director Datuk Mohd Nasir Said said during an inspection carried out by a Customs team at about noon, they seized among others an imitation M16 gun, MP5, air rifle, Glock and automatic Colt 45 pistols.

“The five high quality imitation firearms were estimated to be worth RM2,043.90 and duties involved amounted to RM878.88. All weapons resemble the real weapons but they use rubber bullets, while the air rifle uses copper bullets,” he told reporters yesterday.

He said a 15-year-old boy who was believed to be involved in purchasing the five weapons was detained, but he was released on bail under Section 116 of Customs Act 1967 for further investigation.

In a separate case, Mohd Nasir said a man was detained at the Bukit Berapit Immigration Complex, Pengkalan Hulu recently for owning a fake air rifle estimated to be valued at RM758.58 which involved a tax of RM303.43, and investigation was still ongoing. — Bernama

Subang Jaya police chief ACP Yahaya Ramli said the four suspects including two Bangladeshi men were arrested in a house in Bandar Bukit Puchong which was used to confine the victim.

On June 12, the victim’s wife contacted her husband’s friend here and was told that her husband was kidnapped on arrival at the airport a day earlier.

Yahaya said some men allegedly asked ransom of RM150,000 from the victim’s wife in Bangladesh for the release of her husband.

The wife then reported the matter to police.

Police arrested the four suspects on the same day and are tracking down three other accomplices.

In a separate case, police arrested four Nigerians including a woman for running a ‘parcel scam’ in a condominium in Section 19, here on June 7 and seized mobile phones, laptops, forged documents and foreign currencies. — Bernama

Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said they had obtained the clear CCTV recordings of the area during the mishap.

“The CCTV was installed near the scene and the cameras had captured the collapse incident.

“And yes, the victim’s car was spotted at the scene and we will look at all the details in the recordings,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

He said the chassis number of the victim’s car also matched that of the car found buried at the site.

“We have also received a report from a witness who said that he saw the victim’s car crushed by the fallen pole,” said Abdul Rahim.

He said he was given three days to carry out the investigation to enable a death certificate to be issued by the National Registration Department on June 21 to Lim’s family so as to facilitate the insurance claim by the family.

On Monday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported as saying that the investigation would be held over three days from yesterday and that it would be led by Abdul Rahim. — Bernama

Inspector-General of Police Secretariat assistant head (Corporate Communications) ACP Ramli Mohamed Yusoof said the installation of closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) was also an important initiative in detecting criminal activity.

“Police cannot do patrolling in certain places for a long time as there are more other important tasks that should be carried out, apart from just to monitor or focus on the same locations,” he told Bernama.

Ramli said police usually carried out periodic patrols, and the installation of CCTV and the hiring of security guards at their premises would help significantly in curbing crime.

He was responding to cases of several armed gang robbery incidents at restaurants with the latest incident last Sunday when four men with machetes and axes robbed and attacked a food court at Jalan Relau, Balik Pulau, Penang, resulting in two customers sustaining injuries.

A crime analyst, Datuk Akhbar Satar who also agreed to the suggestion to hire security guards at the 24-hour premises, said the move would give long-term benefits to owners of the premises.

Akhbar said the cost factor in hiring guards should not be a problem to the premises as the move would give a great impact to the public while helping to ease the anxiety of the customers. “Try these suggestions first for five to six months, and see the effects … continue it if the move gives positive results to the premises,” he said.

A survey by Bernama found that some police officers were patrolling at popular public areas including the 24-hour restaurants.

Meanwhile, a tomyam restaurant owner, Roslina Nafi, 37, said her premises was robbed four times in a month and she was afraid to run her business until late at night but she was relieved that the police regularly patrol the location.

Mariani Tan, 21, an employee of a food premises in Setapak, faced anxious moments last year when criminals robbed the store and directed her and several customers to go to the back of the premises. — Bernama

State police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said police detained two men aged between 30 and 35, who were allegedly the masterminds, in a raid at a hotel in Macalister road, here at 11.30pm on Sunday.

“Their modus operandi is to steal letters containing cheques and ATM and credit cards from unlocked post boxes,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

He said the suspects would tamper with the cheques to remove the numbers with a knife point and adhesive tape.

“The suspect would replace the bank account number on the cheques, which would be deposited into the account of an accomplice, who then cashes the cheques based on a 30 per cent commission of their value,” he said.

Abdul Rahim said police were also tracking down two other individuals in their 30s, who were believed to have been carrying out the modus operandi for the last two years in some states including Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Melaka.

He said 329 cheques with a value of RM534,409 and 11 credit cards, a laptop computer, nine ATM cards, a Honda Accord car and RM400 cash were among the items seized during the raid. — Bernama

As at 11am yesterday, Pasir Gudang recorded 153, Larkin (125), Kota Tinggi (118) while Kemaman in Terengganu 103.

The Department of Environment (DOE) in a statement said 16 other stations recorded good API readings and 32 stations were at moderate level.

API reading of 0 to 50 is considered good, moderate (51-100), unhealthy (101-200), very unhealthy (201-300) and hazardous (above 300).

The department said most of the hotspots were concentrated in Central Sumatra, Indonesia.

In view of the hotter and drier weather prevailing in the country, DOE advised the public not to carry out open burning activities.

The public are advised to cooperate by putting out small fires or reporting them to the Fire and Rescue Department at 999 and DOE at 1-800-88-2727. — Bernama

President Datuk Seri G Palanivel said election for all posts would be held by this year in accordance with the requirement by the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

“I met the ROS twice after the 13th General Election and they have advised us to hold the election by this year,” he told reporters at the MIC headquarters after chairing a MIC central working committee (CWC) meeting, here, yesterday.

He added that the CWC had decided to have the election for the post of president on Sept 22 and nomination for the post on Sept 1.

Election for the posts of deputy president, three vice-presidents and 23 CWC members would be held in November or December, he said.

Palanivel said all 3,900 MIC branches must hold their annual general meeting by Aug 4.

“The election for divisions will start by the end of September and continue till October … the division election will be carried out state by state during the period,” he said.

The last time the MIC had its election was in 2009 when former president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu won the post unopposed.

In 2010, Samy decided to resign and handed the baton to Palanivel who was then his deputy.

The MIC should have held its election last year but it was shelved to focus on the 13th General Election.

Meanwhile, Palanivel said if elected this year, it may well be his last term in office as
president.

“If I am retained, it will be my last term…after that I will step down, because now I’m already 64,” he said. — Bernama

“For me, we can be proud when compared to other countries as Malaysia has its own success stories in connecting the people through broadband, Internet and so on where our penetration rate from the mobile aspect is more than its population.

“Our success on broadband coverage which is more than 60 per cent when compared with similar countries with widely scattered urban and rural areas, is something we can be proud of,” he said after launching the Malaysian Pavillion at the Infocomm Media Business Exchange (imbx) exhibition which began yester day at the Marina Bay Sands Convention and Expo Centre here. — Bernama

Federal Territory Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said this measure had to be taken to overcome the problems regarding the cyber cafes which had turned into cyber gambling centres and the abuse of the cyber cafe licences issued to the cafe owners.

“Putrajaya is not affected because there are no cyber cafes there. The problem can no longer be ignored because the abuse of such licences have been repeated too often,” he told reporters after the presentation of Excellent Service Awards to the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Education Department staff, here yesterday.

A total of 715 officers and other staff of the department received the award with Tengku Adnan giving away 450 of the awards while the rest were handed over by the Titiwangsa member of parliament, Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.

Meanwhile, Tengku Adnan would also bring up to the Cabinet meeting tomorrow the haze problem faced by Kuala Lumpur following the jungle burning in Indonesia. — Bernama

FOILED SMUGGLING BID: Wan Ahmad (centre) helps two officers taking samples of the diesel from the trawler’s compartment to be sent to the Chemistry Department for analysis.

KUCHING: Officials from the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism impounded a fishing trawler yesterday after it was found to be transporting over RM20,000 worth of subsidised diesel instead of fish.

Its state director, Wan Ahmad Uzir Wan Sulaiman, said the fishless trawler was stopped near Jalan Pelabuhan around 1pm following a tip-off and subsequently detained after a check revealed it was carrying some 12,000 litres of subsidised fuel in three compartments.

“We suspect that the subsidised diesel was meant either for sale to foreign fishing vessels or to local industries.

“The boat captain and a deckhand, aged 54 and 26 respectively, have been detained to have their statement recorded. We will investigate the case under the Supply Control Act,” he told a press conference at the Marine Police base in Bintawa.

Individuals found guilty under the act face a possible RM100,000 fine and three years’ jail, while companies face a stiffer fine of RM250,000.

Wan Ahmad said his ministry had made a total of 37 subsidised diesel-related seizures (excluding yesterday’s) worth over RM2 million in the period from Jan 1 to June 10 this year, with operations being conducted on a near-daily basis.

“In fact, my men also detained a 23-year-old man around 10am today (yesterday) at a petrol station in the Tabuan area on suspicion of attempting to smuggle subsidised diesel using a modified lorry.

“The lorry was found to be fitted with a 2,000 litre-capacity tank, and the driver had already pumped in about RM90 worth of fuel when he was nabbed,” he said, 1adding that the total value of yesterday seizures exceeded RM90,000.

The trawler is currently being impounded at the Marine Police base here pending the outcome of a chemist report of the fuel sample.

UNFORTUNATE: Some of the longhouse folk waiting for relief assistance at a temporary camp near the fire scene.

OFFERING HELP: Yakup (ninth right) presenting the donation to Lebong on behalf of all the contributors.

BINTULU: About 200 residents of 39 families from Rumah

Lebong Luang in Sungai Seterus Tatau were made homeless after their longhouse was destroyed in a fire around 4.30am yesterday. Their headman, Tuai Rumah Lebong Luang, 37, said during the incident all the residents were sleeping in their respective rooms.

“I was awakened by a noise coming from the next room and I was shocked to see a blaze coming from the No 13 room,” he said.

He immediately shouted to alert other residents.

A distress call was then made to the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba).

Lebong however expressed his dismay over the water supply problem that has affected his longhouse especially at Semadang area since two days ago.

He said if not for the problem, the longhouse folk could have helped to put out the fire while waiting for the arrival of Bomba.

One of the villagers, Rawing Enggang, 45, when met said he was very upset over the incident as all their belongings have been destroyed including important documents and valuable antiques.

Bintulu Resident Muhammad Yakup Kari was among those who visited the scene and gave out immediate relief items such as temporary camps as well as food and drinks.

So far, Sarawak Progressive Democratic Action Party, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Jepak and Sim Swee Joo had come forward to give

donations to the victims who had lived in the longhouse for the past 13 years.

“I appeal for more donations from the government agencies, the private sector, non-governmental organisations and corporate bodies here,” he said.

Currently, the victims are staying in temporary shelters near the razed longhouse while some are putting up in their relatives’ homes.

The harrowing incident occurred about 7am on Sunday at Memoloi, Skrang in Engkilili area when the gang realised that they were being chased by the public, after breaking into a house at Sebangkie Panjai in Lubok Antu.

During the break-in, the suspects managed to steal a shot-gun, 25 bullets and about RM7,000 worth of jewellery.

Lubok Antu police chief DSP James Johnathan, in confirming the incident, said at least five shots were fired at those in hot pursuit.

No one was injured during the shooting, he added.

According to James, the suspects after commiting the crime escaped in a Proton Waja which was later found abandoned and partly burnt at an oil palm plantation at Maja in Betong at around 1:15pm the same day by longhouse folks.

The shot-gun, a bullet and RM100 were found inside the car and police are investigating.

The ministry’s enforcement director, Mohd Roslan Mahayudin said the 35-year-old man was arrested after the team raided his house in Kubang Kerian, Kota Baru on June 11.

“The man had reaped profits from advertising services and contributions from JWG members. He admitted earning as much as RM10,000 per month in 2006, but his earnings have now dropped to RM1,500 after competitors used the same modus operandi,” he told reporters, here, yesterday.

Roslan said the enforcement team also seized information and communication technology (ICT) equipment worth RM30,000, while the man was released on police bail.

He said the enforcement division would be issuing a blockage access notice to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to prevent access to the JWG website as provided under Section 263 (2) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. — Bernama

The first incident at Tabuan Laru came to light after the owner arrived home from work in the evening to discover his house had been broken into.

Among the items stolen were eight wrist watches, cash, and gold jewellery worth over RM20,000 in total.

The owner later said that a few of his neighbours told him that they had earlier spotted a silver Proton Waja reversed parked in his car porch, with two masked men entering his house and a third waiting inside the vehicle.

Even though his neighbours had called him at work to inform him about the break-in, the owner expressed his disappointment that they did not immediately contact the police upon seeing the masked men entering his house.

The same group of burglars were then believed to have struck a house in Taman BDC later the same night and carted off with a television set, a laptop and an iPad.

The owner, who discovered the incident upon his arrival home at 11pm, disclosed that his neighbours had also spotted a

silver Proton Waja parked outside his house during his absence.

In an unrelated case, two masked men made off with about RM500 after robbing a fast food outlet in Matang early Monday.

The duo was said to have rushed into the outlet around 5am before threatening two male employees using a knife and ordering them to empty the contents of the cash register, which amounted to about RM500, before escaping in a white Perodua Kancil.

Fortunately for the workers, none of them were injured during the hold-up and they subsequently lodged a police report of the incident.

Police are investigating all three cases.

MCPF vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, who suggested this yesterday, said regular beats by police and Rela personnel outside the school compound could deter potential criminals.

Lee also suggested the police discuss with school authorities how to prevent a recurrence of a horrific incident where a female student was abducted outside the main gate of the school in Miri and dragged into a car. She was later raped as reported by See Hua Daily News.

“This inhuman act should be condemned. Police and other security personnel should patrol the school and make concerted efforts to keep children safe,” Lee told The Borneo Post.

The incident pointed to the necessity of introducing safety education to school children, he said.

“Children should be advised what to do when accosted by strangers. For example, they should shout to alert those around them to scare off would-be abductors,” he said.

He said given that such unexpected incidents could happen, students need to know how to avoid dangerous situations.

They, especially the girls, should wait inside the school compound while waiting for their parents to fetch them home.

According to the news report, he victim was on her way to school with two female friends when a car pulled over. The stranger asked for help from the student, claiming a punctured tyre, but when she drew near to hand him a pen and paper, he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the vehicle which sped off from the scene of her abduction.

PAS Sarawak deputy commissioner III who is also the party’s chief here, Jofri Jaraiee, said that many parents now feared for their daughters’ safety and urged the authority to enhance any safety measures the schools had implemented to ensure no repeat of the incident.

He said that many parents chose to send their children to school early even before the school gates were opened to avoid the traffic jams.

He thus suggested that schools opened their gates early to allow students to enter the compound instead of subjecting them to loiter outside the school gate if they came early.

“If possible, schools should install CCTVs in their compound to check on the students’ movement or any other suspicious characters loitering outside the school gates.

“It is also not wrong to suggest that the police make occasional rounds to the school, especially in the morning and when schools close, just to keep an eye on things.”

It was reported that a student was dragged by a stranger into his car about 6am Monday while she was walking to school with two friends.

It was also reported that the girl was abandoned in an orchard a few hours later and it is believed that she was forced to perform oral sex on him (stranger).

He said the distribution of Sarawak musical instruments, including the sape, crafted from rainforest products, had so far received good response even from Latin America.

“In the context of Sarawak, valued added local products sourced naturally from the rainforest can have a competitive edge in the international market provided the small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) acquire some background on the latest information communication technology and its application in production and marketing,” he told reporters after launching the Sarawak leg of Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s SME BizFest here yesterday.

Abang Johari said it was important for local SMEs to position themselves in the international market by knowing the entire chain in terms of products, financing, transaction and distribution to reach the targeted market segments.

He said the country’s current internet penetration of 60 per cent and the existence of the Sarawak trunk highway, spread throughout rural areas, meant business transactions could be done anywhere, including

in remote Belaga due to connectivity to the market.— Bernama

children, aged 5 and 8, in Negeri Sembilan who were converted to Islam in April by the estranged husband of a Hindu woman, without her knowledge.

“The unilateral conversion of minor children to any religion by a parent, without the knowledge or consent of the non-converting parent, creates social injustice, violates the rights of the non-converting parent, and is contrary to our constitutional scheme,” said the council’s president Christopher Leong through a press statement released through their website www.malaysianbar.org.my yesterday.

The press statement observed that according to the woman, she and her husband had contracted a civil marriage in 2004, and she was unaware that her husband had embraced Islam. The Negeri Sembilan state Islamic Affairs Department has reportedly taken the position that consent by both parents is unnecessary as children can be automatically converted once one parent embraces Islam.

Voicing the Bar’s concern, Leong pointed out that it was reminiscent of many similar cases, including the widely publicised cases of Shamala Sathiyaseelan and Subashini Rajasingam.

“… Article 12(3) of the Federal Constitution states that “No person shall be required to receive instruction in or to take part in any ceremony or act of worship of a religion other than his own.”; and … Article 12(4) provides that “For the purposes of Clause (3), the religion of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian.”

“Article 160 governs the interpretation of the Federal Constitution, and it refers to the Eleventh Schedule (of the Federal Constitution), which states, inter alia, that “words importing the masculine gender include females”; and “words in the singular include the plural, and words in the plural include the singular”.

“Therefore, Article 12(4) must be construed as requiring the religion of children (whether male or female) under the age of eighteen years to be decided by both parents, in cases where both parents are alive. Accordingly, unilateral religious conversions of any minor children in breach of this are unconstitutional,” he said.

The Malaysian Bar called on the government to ensure that the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Federal Constitution is corrected, so that the term “ibu bapa” is used, and for the government to implement appropriate amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 to further make clear and provide assurance that the consent of both parents is obtained prior to any minor children being allowed to change his or her religion.

“There is presently confusion in the Bahasa Malaysia version of Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution. Until 2002, the Bahasa Malaysia version, as published by the government printers, translated “parent” as “ibu bapa”, ie in the plural. Inexplicably, in the 2002 edition of the translation of the Federal Constitution, the word “parent” was translated as “ibu atau bapa”.

“It would also appear today that some Bahasa Malaysia translations use the term “ibu bapa” while others state “ibu atau bapa”. Nevertheless, it would seem that the authorities are now applying this new Bahasa Malaysia translation of “parent” as “ibu atau bapa”.

“This is tantamount to an unauthorised amendment or alteration of the Federal Constitution, and is itself unconstitutional. An act of translation of the Federal Constitution cannot become an act of amendment of the Federal Constitution. The word “parent” in Article 12(4) must be read as “ibu bapa”, as found in the pre-2002 Bahasa Malaysia translations, and which is consistent with Article 160 and the Eleventh Schedule.

Leong noted the Cabinet directive announced in April 2009 through the former de facto Law Minister, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, that the children of an estranged couple should remain in the religion of the parents at the point of their marriage.

He also noted that the government had sought to make clear and reaffirm this position with the introduction of appropriate amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 through draft amendments, which were discussed among the Attorney General’s Chambers, Bar Council and various civil society groups, which recommended that both parents must consent to the change of religion of a minor child.

However, these proposed amendments were deferred by the government for further consultation, and then apparently “quietly forgotten”, he said.

“The unilateral conversion of minor children to any religion should be unacceptable. The Malaysian Bar urges the government to immediately legislate to resolve this controversy, which has occasioned untold hardship and social injustice to many citizens.

“The government must act now to put an end to this sorry state of affairs, and not remain in animated suspension in the face of human sorrow and misery,” said Leong.