Malaysia - High Court reverses decision on ‘Datin’, to serve 8 years in jail starting today

SHAH ALAM: The High Court here reversed the punishment meted out by the Sessions Court to a woman, described as a “Datin”, who had physically abused her maid.

Rozita Mohamad Ali, 44, will now have to serve an eight-year jail sentence for causing grievous hurt to her domestic helper Suyanti Sutrinso, 21, at a house in Mutiara Damansara on June 21, 2016.

Judge Datuk Seri Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah also rejected the defence counsel's plea for a stay of execution and ordered Rozita to serve her sentence beginning Thursday (March 29).

Rozita's defence counsel Haniff Khatri Abdulla said his client was willing to have her passport impounded and to adhere to any other additional conditions imposed.

Dressed in black from head to toe, Rozita appeared calm and had an in-depth discussion with her platoon of lawyers led by Haniff Khatri.

Before she was handcuffed and led out of the court, she pinned part of her headscarf to cover the lower part of her face.

Rozita was initially charged under Section 307 of the Penal Code with attempted murder, which was later amended to Section 326 of the Penal Code for causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means.

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Dead penalty was better for this bastard

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She had pleaded guilty to the charge.

She had used a kitchen knife, a steel mop and an umbrella to attack her maid Suyanti at a house in Mutiara Damansara on June 21, 2016.

She was bound over for five years on a good behaviour bond of RM20,000 on March 15 by Sessions Court judge Mohammed Mokhzani Mokhtar.

However, the lenient sentence was criticised by members of the public who demanded she be duly dealt with for abusing Suyanti.

Source - TheNation

#Singapore - Female President Elected without an election. What a joke.

Singapore - An establishment stalwart was named Singapore's first female president Wednesday but the milestone was overshadowed by criticism her selection was undemocratic after she was handed the job without a vote.

    Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament from the Muslim Malay minority, did not have to face an election for the largely ceremonial post originally due this month after authorities decided her rivals did not meet strict eligibility criteria.

    It was not the first time in the affluent city-state -- which is tightly controlled and has been ruled by the same party for decades -- that the government has disqualified candidates for the presidency, making an election unnecessary.

    But there was already unease about the process as it was the first time that the presidency had been reserved for a particular ethnic group, in this case the Malay community, and the decision to hand her the job without a vote added to anger.

    Social media was abuzz with criticism as Halimah, a bespectacled 63-year-old who wears a headscarf, was formally announced as the president-elect, with Facebook user Pat Eng writing: "Elected without an election. What a joke."

    "I will call her President Select from now on," said Joel Kong on the networking site, while some posts were marked with the hashtag #NotMyPresident -- echoing the message used by upset Americans after the election of President Donald Trump.

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Halimah, a member of parliament for the ruling People's Action Party for nearly two decades before resigning to contest the presidency, tackled the doubts about the selection process in a speech to a cheering crowd after she was named president-elect.

 

    "I'm a president for everyone. Although there's no election, my commitment to serve you remains the same," she said.

    Authorities had decided to allow only candidates from the Malay community to put themselves forward for the presidency, a bid to foster harmony in the city-state of 5.5 million people which is dominated by ethnic Chinese.

    Singapore's head of state has limited powers, including vetoing senior official appointments, but an establishment figure has always held the role and there are rarely tensions with the government. //AFP

#Philippines - Duterte says IS battle in 'final stages.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday a three-month battle against Islamic State group supporters occupying parts of a southern city was in its "final stages".

Duterte gave his assessment shortly after government troops secured a vital bridge in Marawi city, allowing them easier access into areas being held by the militants.

"We are in the final stages. So let us send immediately, even air-lift, the police," to Marawi, Duterte said in the capital Manila, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) to the north of the battle zone.

Pro-IS gunmen occupied parts of Marawi, the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic Philippines on May 23, triggering a battle that the military says has left almost 800 people dead.

The fighting, which has included a US-backed air campaign against the militants, has destroyed large parts of Marawi.

Duterte and security analysts have said the militants carried out the assault in an effort to establish a Southeast Asian base for IS. 

Duterte on Wednesday warned that, even with the Marawi battle over, the militants could still launch attacks elsewhere in the Philippines, particularly in the strife-torn south where the country's Muslim minority is based.

The southern regions of the Philippines have long been troubled by armed Muslim bands including separatist guerrillas and outlaws, some of whom have gravitated towards IS.

Duterte said other southern cities with large Muslim populations, including his hometown of Davao, were vulnerable. He said Manila might also be a target.

Duterte imposed martial law across the southern third of the Philippines immediately after the militants occupied parts of Marawi to combat the security threat.

Hours before Duterte spoke, soldiers in Marawi secured the Mapandi bridge, a vital supply route which had once been menaced by militant snipers and rocket-propelled grenades.

Source - TheJakartaPost

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Praying for London

Pray For London Memes & Tributes To Share In Solidarity With Victims.

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A van ploughed into pedestrians and several people were stabbed in central London on Saturday, leaving at least 20 casualties in what police called a "terrorist" attack days before a general election.
Armed police opened fire during two "terrorist incidents" at London Bridge and nearby Borough Market, a popular nightspot teeming with bars on a warm summer evening.
"We can confirm we have taken at least 20 patients to six hospitals across London," the London Ambulance Service said in a statement.
Witnesses described a van speeding into several pedestrians on London Bridge and then a knife-wielding man sprinting towards a bar packed with revellers enjoying a Saturday night out.
One witness described seeing five assailants and several people said they were locked inside pubs and restaurants by police and had to come out with their hands on their heads.
Italian photographer Gabriele Sciotto, who was watching the Champions League final at the Wheatsheaf pub in Borough Market, said he saw three men being shot just outside the pub.

In his picture, a man wearing combat trousers, with a shaved head and what looked like a belt with canisters attached to it could be seen on the ground with two more bodies behind him.
Pictures showed medical staff attending to apparent victims of the attack and a helicopter buzzing just metres over London bridge, one of the major arteries in the City business district.
Police responded rapidly with dozens of emergency vehicles and authorities led shellshocked members of the public away from the scene.
The attack came more than a week after a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a concert in the northern city of Manchester and days ahead of the June 8 election, where security is a major theme.
It also sparked harrowing memories of an attack on Westminster Bridge when 52-year-old British Muslim convert Khalid Masood rammed his car into pedestrians before crashing into the barriers surrounding parliament and then stabbing a police officer to death.
It is the latest in a string of attacks to hit Europe, including in Paris, Berlin and Saint Petersburg.

- 'Potential act of terrorism' -

Police said the first reports of a "vehicle in collision with pedestrians on London Bridge" came at 10:08pm local time ( 2108 ) and were quickly followed by "reports of stabbings in Borough Market," at the south end of the bridge.
"Armed officers responded and shots have been fired," police said.
Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed the "terrible incident in London" was being treated as "a potential act of terrorism."
She will hold an emergency ministerial meeting later on Sunday and Facebook activated its safety check function for people in London to let their loved ones know they are safe.
US President Donald Trump offered his help, tweeting "WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!"
French President Emmanuel Macron said France was "more than ever at Britain's side." 
US pop star Ariana Grande, whose concert in Manchester was the scene of a terror attack last week that claimed 22 lives, tweeted: "Praying for London".

- 'Her throat had been cut' -

Witnesses on London Bridge reported seeing a van mounting the pavement and hitting pedestrians and a man with a knife running.
"There was a van that crashed into the fences on London Bridge. And then there was a man with a knife, he was running. He came down the stairs and went to the bar," Dee, 26, who was visibly in shock and declined to give her last name, told AFP.
BBC reporter Holly Jones, who was there at the time of the incident, said she saw a van driven by a man travelling "at about 50 miles (80 kilometres) an hour".
She said about five people were being treated for injuries after the vehicle mounted the pavement and hit them.
"There's several police boats with torchlights searching the Thames at the moment," she told BBC radio.
She added that she saw a man, who had his shirt off and was in handcuffs, being arrested by police.
Alex Shellum at the Mudlark pub near the scene of the attack said a woman had come into the bar "bleeding heavily from the neck".
"It appeared that her throat had been cut," he told the BBC.

- 'Large blade' -

Another witness, who gave his name as Alessandro, also told BBC radio that he saw a van strike several people on London Bridge.
"I saw this van going left and right, left and right, trying to catch as many people as he could. And people just tried to get out of the way of the van.
"Then I tried to help people, wounded people."
Husband and wife Ben and Natalie told BBC Radio 5 Live they were outside Borough Market when they witnessed the incident there.
Ben said: "We saw people running away and then I saw a man in red with a large blade, at a guess 10 inches long, stabbing a man, about three times.
"It looked like the man had been trying to intervene, but there wasn't much he could do. He was being stabbed quite coldly and he slumped to the ground."
Ben said the man then walked towards the Southwark Tavern. He said they saw a metal chair being thrown towards the man.
"Then we heard three gunshots, definitely gunshots, and we ran."

Sourse - TheJakartaPost

Military says 89 gunmen killed during #Philippine urban battle.

A Philippine Marines armoured personnel carrier speeds away as black smoke billows from burning houses after military helicopters fired rockets at militant positions in Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao on Tuesday.

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MARAWI, Philippines - Philippine security forces have killed 89 Islamist militants during more than a week of fighting in a southern city but the gunmen are still offering strong resistance and holding hostages, the military said Wednesday.

Attack helicopters fired rockets repeatedly on Wednesday morning into the pockets of Marawi city where the militants were hiding among trapped residents, according to an AFP reporter who was following troops searching houses.

The clashes erupted on Tuesday last week when gunmen waving black flags of the Islamic State (IS) group rampaged through the mostly Muslim-populated city in response to an effort by security forces to arrest a Filipino on the US government's list of most-wanted terrorists.

That militant leader, Isnilon Hapilon, escaped but he was still believed to be in Marawi, military spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said Wednesday.

Eighty-nine militants had been killed in the efforts to reclaim the city and find Hapilon, Padilla told reporters.

He said the military was making "very positive" progress towards ending the crisis, which had also seen 21 security forces and 19 civilians killed.

However Padilla acknowledged there were many residents still trapped in the 10 percent of the city that the gunmen were controlling, and that troops would likely meet increasingly strong resistance there.

"That 10 percent is most likely the area that is heavily guarded and defended by any armed men if they are protecting any individual of high value," Padilla said.

Padilla said he did not know how many militants remained.

He said they had been reinforced by prisoners who escaped from two jails during the initial rampage, and "sympathisers" of the militants.

 There were more than 2,000 residents still trapped in areas of Marawi held by the militants, Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesman for the provincial crisis management committee, told AFP.

The militants also took a priest and up to 14 other people hostage at the start of the crisis.

A video of the priest appeared on social media on Tuesday in which he repeated the militants' demands to withdraw, and said the militants were holding 240 people hostage.

"The video may seem to be authentic," Padilla said, although he cautioned military technology experts were still verifying it.

Padilla also emphasised the video was being used for propaganda, that the priest was speaking under duress and he did not know if the figure about the number of hostages was correct.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao, home to roughly 20 million people, in response to the crisis.

He said the Marawi violence showed that local militant groups were uniting behind IS and becoming a major security threat across Mindanao.

Source - TheNation

‘MASTERMIND’ of Pattani car-bomb identified with eight accomplices, said to have fled to Yala.

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‘MASTERMIND’ of Pattani car-bomb identified with eight accomplices, said to have fled to Yala.

ONE OF the suspects in the Big C Pattani car bomb explosion has identified eight accomplices, including the mastermind behind the attack that injured more than 60 people on Tuesday. 
Fourth Army Area chief Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich yesterday released a list of the car-bomb suspects. 
The list is based on information from Su-ai-mee Sama-ae, who has been interrogated at a military base in Pattani province since his arrest on Thursday night.
According to Su-ai-mee, Annungwa Kazor is the alleged mastermind, while Maolana Samoh and Abdul-aze Japakeeya are responsible for finding others to actually carry out the attack. 
He said that Isma-ae Morzu was in charge of getting the vehicle that would be used as the car bomb. Manasay Zyredee was tasked with assembling explosives and concealing them in the vehicle, alongside Muhammad Kazor. All along, Ruslan Baimor and Bukhori Lamzoh served as lookouts. 
To get the vehicle for the plot, the gang allegedly lured Nuson Kajornkam, a tent-service provider from Yala province, to Pattani and killed him on Tuesday morning, according to Su-ai-mee. About five hours later, his pickup truck was packed with explosive-filled cylinders and parked in front of the Big C Pattani. 
Nuson left behind his wife, who is a nurse, and their two children. 
His widow, Sawitree Kachornkham, said yesterday that she did not want to live in Yala anymore because it was not safe, even in broad daylight. 
The death of her husband was a big blow. “I hope such a thing will never happen to anyone else. I really would like to ask the killer whether they have ever loved someone,” she said. 
Pattani Governor Weeranan Pengchan said all eight suspects implicated by Su-ai-mee had criminal records.
“They are wanted for many other crimes in Pattani and Yala,” he said. 
He added that the ongoing investigation suggested that the eight suspects had already fled to the neighbouring Yala province. 
Pattani Special Taskforce’s chief Maj-General Jatuporn Klampasut said that the chief executive of the Tambon Nong Chik Administrative Organisation and a local imam had been aware of Nuson’s killing. 
“At this point, there is no evidence that they directly took part in the robbery. So, we have just interviewed them for information. We have also questioned five locals for the same purpose,” Jatuporn said. 
Suspicious activities
Colonel Yuttanam Petchmuang, a deputy spokesman for the Forward Command of the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4, said Piyawat had already asked relevant authorities to gather evidence fast to bring all the culprits to justice. 
Following the explosion, an arrest warrant was issued for Makorseng Ma-ae, 25. But authorities are still searching for him. 
Yuttanam urged people to alert authorities if they detected any suspicious activities. 
HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn has assigned a delegate to provide flowers and gifts of support to victims at hospitals. 
Unrest has raged in Thailand’s deep South for more than a decade. Bloody incidents have taken place on almost a daily basis. 
Yesterday afternoon, more than 100 religious leaders, community leaders and locals joined a prayer in front of Big C Pattani to ask for peace. They condemned the use of violence, including the blast that hit the area a few days ago.
Meanwhile, the Sheikhul Islam Office has released a letter condemning the incidents in Pattani province that injured 61 innocent people when two bombs were detonated on Tuesday afternoon at a Big C store in Muang Pattani district. 
The office said that the vicious act had been designed to take innocent lives and thus violated the teachings of Islam, which clearly forbids such a crime. 
The Sheikhul Islam Office urged the perpetrators to refrain from engaging in further violence against local residents. 
The office also implored the government to do everything in its power to prevent such incidents from occurring, while providing assistance to victims and bringing the culprits to justice. 
The letter ends with a plea to the |administration to find peaceful solutions to end the violence that is plaguing the South, especially by means of promoting public |participation.
Source - TheNation
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