| Umno's campaign tool: Sex, religion, media - xNews® Alternative Posted: 15 Jul 2012 09:13 PM PDT
| Umno's campaign tool: Sex, religion, media Posted: 15 Jul 2012 09:11 PM PDT  KUCHING: Umno and Barisan Nasional are so desperate to win the coming general election that they are resorting to sex, religion and the media, claims PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
"How can they talk about Islam, the high objectives of syariah, when corruption is endemic, when discrimination is rife, when religion is abuse, and when sex is abused as major campaign issues? "How do you talk about 1Malaysia when the minorities are abused and insulted?" he asked, pointing out that the Indians and Hindus may be in the minority, but they should not be insulted and humiliated. He also questioned Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's 1Malaysia campaign strategy which he alleged marginalised Sarawak's Iban and Orang Ulu communities. "How you allow the people of Sarawak – the Ibans and the Orang Ulu – being marginalised? "Can you convince the large majority of Chinese in this country that they don't feel discriminated against? "Even as Malays, the large majority of them remain poor and marginalised. "Only the few leaders are amassing wealth. "These (abuses and insults) are being done, tolerated and condoned by (Prime Minister) Najib, despite talking about 1Malaysia," Anwar told reporters during his one-day visit to Kuching yesterday. 'Disconnected policies'
Citing the many BN billboards with words "Janji Ditepati', he said these were were just a "desperate measure to portray Umno-BN as a party that honours, implement and deliver the correct policy." The billboards have mushroomed in strategic points all over the state to welcome Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day. (Merdeka Day is celebrated on Aug 31, while Malaysia Day is on Sept 16). Many people have complained that BN should not politicise the coming Merdeka Day or Malaysia Day, and what the BN leaders should have used were words and slogans that promoted racial and religious harmony. Said Anwar: "The people know how many billions of ringgit of royalty of timber funds that have been accumulated and amassed in the past few years by these leaders and how much have been disbursed or returned to the people. "There are apparent contradictions between slogans and practice. Nor are they consistent with the government's policies as these are done during election times. "Taxi drivers ask for permits, Najib gives them tyres. It shows how disconnect Najib's policies and the real demand." 
| | Latheefa quits as MBPJ councillor Posted: 15 Jul 2012 09:08 PM PDT  PETALING JAYA: Petaling Jaya city councillor Latheefa Koya resigned her position effective immediately.
In a letter dated today, Latheefa said that her position was untenable since Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and the state exco are mulling her sacking. Speculations that Latheefa would be booted has been rife since last week after allegations that she had criticised the PKR led state administration. "I refer you to an internal e-mail regarding my concern on housing for the poor which I have sent to you and other top party leaders recently. "The letter was unrelated to MBPJ. This has become a matter of public knowledge and speculation. "Under the circumstances, my position as an MBPJ councillor has become untenable," said Latheefa who is also PKR information chief. On Friday, Khalid had confirmed that he and his exco were mulling her sacking. However, he said no decision was arrived at.
Also read:
Khalid: We're mulling Latheefa's sacking 
| | Do we need to carry weapons and become vigilantes? Posted: 15 Jul 2012 08:58 PM PDT FMT LETTER: From Crime Avenger, via e-mail Despite the 'massive reduction' in crime rates as claimed by the government, we still read news on murders of a real estate agent, death of an old lady due to snatch theft, and mafia style killings, ATM roberries and armed robberies in broad daylight, attempted kidnappings in shopping complexes, incredibly, in just a space of two weeks. And these were reported cases and were only the tip of the iceberg. The relevant authorities continue with their denials, and the spin doctors working non stop to project Malaysia as a safe country, in comparison to others. A minister even claimed that the new media exxgarated the perception, as the same crime reported and spread by internet, smartphones, sms and coffee shop talks. Did he mean that a crime will turn into four crimes, if the same crime news was repeated in four mediums? The traditional media and authorities, meanwhile, tried to pin the blame on the rakyat, claiming that the increase in crime partly attributed to the rakyat's " apathy" and tidak apa attitude when seeing fellow people being robbed. One paper even suggested that we try to shout, show anger (most funny and ridiculous suggestion), etc. Yet incredibly, these criminals and killers are "untouchables" as the police warned us not to take the law " into our own hands". We are forced to convert our housing area into a battlezone with gated and guarded community, yet some of the newspapers seemed to often portray these concepts as a nuisance, claiming that the barriers will inconevenience motorists or block vehicles in times of emergencies. So, what can the helpless rakyat do? We feel so defenseless. Will the rakyat be forced to turn into masked vigilantes like Batman and Spiderman to fight the criminals? Will we be forced to carry guns for personal protection, like the Americans? I myself was robbed and nearly killed, twice, by robbers near my house, who slashed my head and back with parangs. The scary thing was, these robbers will attack you before they rob you. I still bear the scars on my skull and back today. 
| | China policy chiefs swallow hard in growth boost bid Posted: 15 Jul 2012 09:06 PM PDT  By Nick Edwards and Kevin Yao
BEIJING: China's government is engaged in the economic equivalent of holding its nose and swallowing nasty medicine, dosing up on investment spending, local government debt and real estate sales to push up growth. Eight months of policy fine-tuning have yet to arrest an economic chill lasting six successive quarters and at risk of infecting a seventh, forcing Beijing to opt for near term expedients to boost growth ahead of a once-a-decade leadership transition later this year. It's not easy for a government sensitive to the social impact of inflation and speculation set off by its last investment binge in 2009-10, which priced millions of middle class Chinese out of city centre property markets. But the apparent recoil by Beijing from the pursuit of economic rebalancing that eschews short-term spending on more infrastructure capacity in favor of policies promoting services and consumer-driven growth simply highlights the urgency for more reform. "Because consumption is still only 35 percent of GDP, the reality of that being able to drive the economy when fixed asset investment is falling and industrial production is slowing is unlikely," Jeremy Stevens, Beijing-based China economist at Standard Bank, told Reuters. "In fact the ability of the government to massage and orchestrate economic momentum is less than it was two years ago because it is now more reliant on the corporate sector and that is struggling," Stevens said. "It does mean that they are having to look at things they didn't want to do six months ago." China said on Friday that year-on-year growth in the second quarter slowed to 7.6 percent, just above the government's 7.5 percent full year target and the weakest quarter since Q1 2009 when the global financial crisis choked world trade flows and saw 20 million Chinese jobs axed in a matter of months. With the world's second biggest economy set for its slackest year of growth since 1999′s 7.6 percent and investors fretting about the risk of a lurch lower, there is evidence Beijing is relying on trusted methods to stimulate activity. Investors have latched onto Premier Wen Jiabao's comments earlier this month on the importance of investment spending to sustain growth as a signal the government is going back to what it knows best. A record price fetched at a Beijing real estate auction last week after June land sales snapped an eight-month decline and signs of acceptance of limited local loosening of tight property controls has only added to that perception. "Exports are weak and it takes time to spur consumption, so boosting investment is the easiest way," said Liang Youcai, senior economist at top government think tank, the State Information Centre. Commerce Minister Chen Deming said last month the country would hit its 10 percent trade growth target only "if lucky". Capital spending meanwhile was fully 50 percent of China's growth in the first half of 2012, statistics bureau data shows, a run rate even faster than the 45 percent or so recently that has started to worry the International Monetary Fund, given the risks of massive over-capacity and bad bank debt. Banks are already believed to be nursing massive undeclared losses on government-directed investment projects mandated as part of the 4 trillion yuan ($635 billion) economic stimulus plan conceived in 2008 and rolled out in 2009-10. Government debt That program saw local governments rack up debts of 10.7 trillion yuan by the end of 2010, with analysts estimating that 2-3 trillion yuan's worth are now sour and cannot be repaid. But Beijing, looking once more at local authorities to start ramping up construction, is relaxing controls on special financing vehicles set up for the purpose, according to one local official who declined to be identified. Zhang Hanya, head of the China Investment Association — a think-tank affiliated to the National Development and Reform Commission, the most pro-growth arm of government — says local governments are so starved of cash after two years of a credit clampdown that they don't have the funds to start work on projects getting fast-track approval. Some say easing credit controls is not only possible for local governments with sound fiscal positions, but vital. "I think such relaxation is needed because it will be riskier if you cut the financing channels for all local governments," Liang, at the State Information Centre, said. For those focused on the reforms needed to make China's financial markets deeper and more liquid, the way in which policy loosening is delivered is the crucial point. So while China may have allowed banks to roll over loans from local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) to stop them defaulting, the more significant development is the speeding of approvals to bond issues made by firms run by local authorities. Bonds issued by urban construction and investment companies, typically the bigger and healthier LGFVs, totaled 169 billion yuan as of July 5, almost matching the 174 billion yuan they issued in all of 2011, according to data compiled by Shenzhen-based Pengyuan Credit Rating Co Ltd. Analysts say a vibrant corporate bond market is one of the surest ways to help China build a dynamic private sector with access to abundant, cost-effective capital. And completing part-finished reform is the only way to replace the credit-constrained, semi-shackled and state-dominated corporate environment that persists. Sources close to the central bank and financial regulators told Reuters earlier this year that authorities had readied a list of small, but significant reforms ready to be rolled out to help improve corporate sector access to capital. And there are clear signs of a commitment to deliver on reform, even while at a headline level the government may be reaching for the familiar props of state-directed lending and spending, according to Ronald Gould, managing director in the Hong Kong office of Promontory Financial Group, a consultancy advising on financial regulation run mainly by former watchdogs. "I think policymakers are taking advantage of the short term circumstances in exactly the right way to address some of the longer term structural issues they have to address too. Rate cuts and liberalization are exactly the right moves at exactly the right time," he said during a recent trip to Beijing. China has cut interest rates twice in the space of a month while also allowing banks more freedom to set differential rates for borrowers and depositors in clear steps towards letting the market set the price of capital. "I'd be worried if we were seeing nothing other than an adjustment of bank lending terms. Then I would say that is not enough of a change. But they are doing many other things. It's just not all going to happen by tomorrow morning," Gould said. A slew of reforms in the first half of this year, including widening the trading band for the yuan currency, the launch of a high yield bond market and an easing of rules for foreign investment into China's capital markets all signal change. David Loevinger, managing director for emerging markets at Los Angeles-based fund manager TCW, says that has coincided with China's current account coming roughly into balance over the last six months which gave the government a need to adjust. The durability of reform will be seen only as trade flows accelerate when the global economy recovers, rekindling speculative hot money trades that drive up the value of the yuan and inflation risks which China sets policy to actively manage. "Has China really put something different in place? Have they essentially stopped intervening so much in the economy? That's the test," said Loevinger, formerly the U.S. Treasury's senior coordinator for China affairs. -Reuters 
| | Trouble brewing within PRS Posted: 15 Jul 2012 08:37 PM PDT  KUCHING: The veiled threat by Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president James Masing of a disciplinary action against his vice-president BillyAbit Joo who insists that he will be the candidate for Hulu Rajang is not going down well with supporters of the incumbent MP.
"Masing should have been accommodative and should not have issued such a threat to Billy ," said his close friend and a member of PRS Supreme Council. Requesting anonymity, the council member said: "I was shocked over the threat. Even Billy and his supporters were unhappy. "Billy told me he still has a chance of being nominated as he puts his political career in the hand of the prime minister. "The prime minister knows that Billy still can win." Masing has announced that his private secretary Wilson Ugak Kumbong who has been waiting in the wings since 2004 general election will be the candidate for Hulu Rajang in the coming election. (Billy) Abit Joo's insistence is, however, not only annoying Masing, but it is also causing confusion among the BN voters and members. Masing explained that the reason for dropping Abit Joo from the list of candidates was that he had reached a plateau as far as his political contribution is concerned. Abit Joo has been Hulu Rajang MP for five terms. Masing said that the party's election nomination committee comprising supreme council members including the president, secretary general, women and youth chiefs felt that a younger man and a more winnable candidate should take over in Hulu Rajang. He said the party would not take lightly to Abit Joo's insistence of being re-nominated as a candidate for the constituency. "I take it as defiance to party's decision if he goes against the committee. Such stand has serious political implications," he said, describing Abit Joo's aggressive campaigns as defiance. Najib won't take chances
He however added that the "party would not take action" against Abit Joo "for the time being." The statement also said that the committee had decided to retain its MPs in Sri Aman (Masir Kujat), Lubok Antu (William Nyallau Badak), Kanowit (Aaron Dagang), Selangau (Joseph Entulu) and Julau (Joseph Salang). Abit Joo was said to have promised Ugak in 2004 that it would be his last election after serving his fourth term. In the 2008 election, Ugak was again promised that he would replace Abit Joo in the next general election. Despite the promise, Abit Joo insisted that he would contest again to defend the seat, and he based his confidence on the fact that now the role of selecting the BN candidates from any BN component party including PRS rests with the prime minister as chairman of the Barisan Nasional. "The presidents of the component parties and Masing included have no power. They can merely recommend their respective candidate, but the prime minister has the ultimate power to decide. "If the prime minister thinks that Billy (Abit Joo) still can win, he is certain to pick him," the pro- Abit Joo council member added. The council member also pointed out that this being a "very crucial election" for Najib, the PM will only "want" to pick winnable candidates to ensure that he "still becomes PM after the election". The council member also said that Najib has also given every Barisan MP including Abit Joo some RM3.5 million to carry out their minor rural development projects. He said that the incumbent MP has been effectively using the funds to his advantage. However, in the event that Abit Joo is not selected, the council member said "Billy knows what to do." "He told me and his supporters not to worry. Billy knows what to do and asks us to continue with our works," he said.
Tough for BN Abit Joo did not indicate whether he would resign from PRS or would contest as independent in the event that he would be sacked from PRS. It is also not certain whether he would join Pakatan Rakyat, even though there are talks in the political circles towards that end. Nevertheless, if a disciplinary action is taken against him it would certainly undermine the chance of PRS and Barisan winning the Hulu Rajang constituency. Both candidates George Lagong, the Pelagus assemblyman of Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) and lawyer Abun Sui of PKR are waiting to exploit the issue. Assuming that Abit Joo is nominated, the result of the election in the constituency will also depend much on the Ugak factor. He and his supporters can play the spoiler's role. As one political veteran put it, whoever is being chosen by BN to contest the seat, it will be a tough battle for BN in the constituency of 19,750 voters (according to the 2011 electoral rolls). Ibans account for about 11,519 votes, the bulk of which comes from Baleh where Masing is the incumbent assemblyman, while the Orang Ulu natives constitute about 7,658 voters who are mostly from Belaga. 
| | Perjalanan ke Putrajaya sudah dekat Posted: 15 Jul 2012 08:31 PM PDT  KUALA SELANGOR: Berdasarkan bilangan manusia yang membanjiri Himpunan Hijau ke Putrajaya peringkat negeri Selangor di Stadium Kuala Selangor malam tadi seolah-olah pusat pentadbiran negara sudah ditawan Pakatan Rakyat.
Penyertaan lebih 20,000 penyokong dan ahli PAS bersama para pemimpin Pakatan bagaikan cerminan peristiwa Dataran Tahrir di mana ratusan anak muda dan rakyat Mesir keluar untuk menggulingkan rejim zalim Presiden Hosni Mubarak. Kalau di negeri-negeri lain hanya penyokong dan pemimpin PAS sahaja yang hadir tetapi berbeza dengan lanskap penyertaan rakyat yang mewarnai Stadium Kuala Selangor ini. Kehadiran para pemimpin selain dari PAS seperti Presiden PKR Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Ahli Parlimen Seputeh DAP Teresa Kok dan bekas menteri Umno Tan Sri Kadir Sheikh Fadhil memberi satu identiti nasional kepada suatu perjuangan melibatkan rakyat dari semua peringkat umur dan warna kulit. Para pemimpin PAS yang hadir ialah Timbalan Presiden Mohamad Sabu, Timbalan Pesuruhjaya I PAS Selangor Khalid Samad, Timbalan Pesuruhjaya II PAS Selangor Iskandar Abdul Samad, AJK PAS Pusat Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad dan Pengarah Pilihan Raya PAS Dr Hatta Ramli. Dan tidak ketinggalan turut hadir ialah Sheikh Ismail Abdul Hamid dari Ikwanul Muslimin yang mewakili Presiden Mesir Dr Mohamad Morsi. Sambutan yang diberikan terhadap perhimpunan ini seolah-olah menggambarkan Putrajaya sudah ditawan atau sekurang-kurangnya memberi harapan dan keyakinan bahawa perjalanan ke Putrajaya sudah semakin dekat dan hampir pasti menjadi kenyataan. Keghairahan penyokong dan pemimpin yang hadir dapat disimpulkan daripada kata-kata Mohamad Sabu di akhir ucapannya. Beliau berkata jika pilihan raya umum kali ini tidak dijalankan secara bersih dan adil maka "kita akan bawa Dataran Tahrir ke Malaysia," sambil mendapat tepukan gemuruh dari para hadirin. Kadir yang sudah bergelumang dalam parti Umno selama 56 tahun mengungkapkan kata-kata yang tidak diduga, "saya bangga dapat kibarkan bendera yang mulia ini" sambil mengibarkan bendera PAS di atas pentas utama. Sheikh Ismail ketika berucap berkata, sekiranya beliau adalah rakyat Malaysia sudah pasti beliau akan menjadi ahli PAS, sambil menyifatkan kehadiran malam tadi sebagai sesuatu yang beliau tidak duga. Melayu yang jahat
Terdahulu, Mohamad Sabu hadir pada Majlis Ramah Mesra Timbalan Presiden PAS bersama ahli Dewan Himpunan PAS Pusat (DHPP) di Dewa MBSA, Paya Jaras Kawasan Subang. Dalam ucapannya beliau berkata, Rasulullah saw melarang para pengikutnya (umat Islam) bercakap atau berjuang atas dasar perkauman atau asobiyyah. "Melayu yang jahat kita mesti lawan. Umno yang menyokong puak-puaknya yang zalim dan melakukan rasuah serta kejahatan, kita mesti lawan. "Apabila rumah (Pengerusi Bersama Bersih) Dato' S Ambiga kena 'serang' dengan mendirikan gerai daging burger dan senaman punggung, orang-orang PASlah yang mengawal rumah dan menjaga keselamatannya," ujar beliau, sambil disorak oleh para hadirin. Pada akhir majlis, Mat Sabu menyampaikan bantuan berupa barangan makanan keperluan harian kepada golongan miskin daripada masyarakat India dan Cina yang bermastautin di sekitar Paya Jaras. 
| | China protests use health threats as rallying cry Posted: 15 Jul 2012 08:14 PM PDT Now residents of Songjiang district are raising a stink about the future of the landfill, one of a series of recent protests across China as people hold the government more accountable for health and environmental problems. "All the garbage in Songjiang comes here," said Chen Chunhui, who grew up nearby. "This is a residential district, so people are making a fuss. They say if you smell it, your baby will be a freak." Hundreds took to the streets in late May and dozens again in early June to oppose the landfill and a planned garbage incinerator, which officials had proposed to solve the festering problem. The May protest is believed to be Shanghai's largest since 2008, when hundreds marched against an extension of the city's high-speed "maglev" train line, prompting the government to suspend the project indefinitely. The Songjiang protesters – who are largely young, educated and not necessarily Shanghai natives – claim the incinerator would spew dangerous toxins and slammed the local government's lack of transparency on the project. "Oppose the incinerator, protect our homes," said one protester wearing a surgical mask to show the potential harm at the June demonstration, which took place under the watchful eyes of nearly 100 police. Government officials announced in May that Songjiang would build the 250-million-yuan (US$40-million) incinerator on its current landfill site as the population swells. But residents claim the incinerator could affect the health of hundreds of thousands of people and call for moving the landfill, which towers up to 17 metres (19 yards) and covers an area the size of a football field. Environmental pollution and perceived health threats are sparking protests elsewhere in China, helped by social media which allows organisers to publicise their causes and rally others despite tight control in the one-party state. Last year, thousands of protestors halted production at a polluting solar panel factory in the eastern city of Haining, while residents of the northeastern city of Dalian stopped a planned petrochemical plant. Earlier this month in the southwestern province of Sichuan, hundreds of protestors clashed with police over a planned metals plant in Shifang city and forced the project to be scrapped. "This nascent urban middle class is increasingly unwilling to accept perceived threats to their quality of life, so you are having a greater tendency for people to take to the streets," said Phelim Kine, senior Asia researcher at New York-based Human Rights Watch. China had an estimated 180,000 protests – or "mass incidents" – in 2010 and the numbers have risen steadily since the 1990s, according to estimates by sociology professor Sun Liping of Tsinghua University in Beijing. But the government has grown more sophisticated in handling them since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, when soldiers fired on protestors, Kine said. "They have made the calculation that it is better to allow people a measure of active, public protest as a way to let people blow off steam," Kine said. However, the government still targets protest leaders, seeking to dissuade them using soft and hard tactics, he added. In the Songjiang case, Shanghai authorities have allowed the protests to take place, amid a massive police presence, but have not sought to clear away demonstrators with mass detentions. In the May demonstration, police blocked protestors from marching to the nearby university district, fearing greater student participation. In the smaller June protest, organisers held a dialogue with authorities, which allowed the demonstration to take place as long as it remained orderly. But the local authorities have not yet given any signal of giving in to the protesters. "Trust us, we will be spending so much money that there's no reason for us not to make sure it operates properly and safely," Xu Qiyong, an official of Songjiang's sanitation bureau, told the state-backed Global Times newspaper. But trust remains an issue. "There is no transparency. There is no confidence in the government," one protester said. -AFP 
| | Bopara earns England Test recall Posted: 15 Jul 2012 08:00 PM PDT  LONDON: Ravi Bopara has been recalled to the England squad to face South Africa in the first Test at The Oval.
The Essex batsman, 27, is set to play his first Test for almost a year and comes into the side in place of Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow.
The 13-man squad also includes bowlers Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan.
"Ravi has shown us he is a talented cricketer… so he justifies his inclusion," said England selector Geoff Miller . "Jonny has had a bit of a tough time. We know he is young and talented cricketer so he just needs to go back to Yorkshire and score some big runs and fight for his place again." Miller said Bopara's selection had come on the back of impressive performances in the one-day series against West Indies and Australia and he hoped he could take that onto the Test stage. "We'd like to see something big from him but he's only part of a side, so he needs to actually perform to cement his place." If Bopara makes the starting team, it will be his 13th Test cap and his first since he played in an innings victory over India at The Oval last August. Following Eoin Morgan's loss of form last winter, Bopara seemed certain to return at the start of this summer – only to injure his thigh playing for his county the day before the squad was announced for the first Test against the West Indies at Lord's. Bairstow was therefore chosen to make his debut, but the youngster managed just 38 runs in three innings. -Agencies 
| | China's Lenovo inches closer to a global tech title Posted: 15 Jul 2012 08:20 PM PDT  HONG KONG: Lenovo Group Ltd is on track to overtake Hewlett-Packard Co as the world's biggest PC maker by sales as soon as this year, making it the first Chinese company to grab the top spot globally in a technology sector.
The ThinkPad maker's rise highlights the advance of China's technology firms on the world stage in recent years thanks to a combination of aggressive pricing, overseas acquisitions and their taking advantage of a fast-growing home market. Analysts, however, also warn that Lenovo's rapid gains in market share have come at the expense of profit margins, while the company faces slowing growth in the market for personal computers and tough rivals in the tablet PC space. "It's just a matter of time before Lenovo becomes No. 1 and it won't be surprising at all if it happens later this year," said Frederick Wong, executive director at Avant Capital Management (Hong Kong) Ltd, which owns shares in Lenovo. He added, however, that competition in the tablet sector and a weak PC market outlook could put pressure on Lenovo. Lenovo, which became the world's No. 2 PC vendor in the third quarter of 2011, had a 14.9 percent global market share in the April-June quarter this year, a mere 0.6 percentage point away from HP's 15.5 percent, according to research firm IDC's latest data. Figures from industry tracker Gartner show an even narrower gap, with Lenovo just 0.2 percentage point from HP. Lenovo's rise has been helped by its purchase of Germany's Medion and a joint venture with Japan's NEC Corp last year, as well as its acquisition of IBM Corp's PC business in 2005. Investors have rewarded Lenovo for its market share gains, sending its stock up by around 16 percent this year and outpacing rivals HP, third-ranked Dell Inc and No. 4 Acer Inc, whose stocks have dropped over the same period. Lenovo currently trades at a multiple of 12.5 times forward earnings, the second-highest among the top-five PC makers and well above the 4.6 times multiple for HP, Thomson Reuters Starmine data showed. But profit margins have suffered. Lenovo had a 1.4 percent operating margin in the latest quarter, lower than HP's 7.4 percent and Dell's 6.2 percent, the data showed. "HP, Dell and Acer have switched lanes in the PC race and passed the baton to Lenovo in terms of focusing on sales rather than margins," said Dickie Chang, an analyst at IDC in Hong Kong. Another risk is slowing growth in the PC market as the global economy, including Lenovo's home turf and stronghold China, eases. China accounts for about 42 percent of Lenovo's total revenue, with the bulk of that coming from PC sales. Global PC shipment growth was largely flat in the second quarter, marking the seventh straight quarter of low 0 to 5 percent growth for the industry. "We remain positive on Lenovo's market share expansion, but the absolute growth is nevertheless being negatively impacted by a slower market," Jefferies said in a report. Jefferies has an "underperform" rating on Lenovo with a price target of HK$5.70. Overall PC demand could pick up this year with the launch of Windows 8, though the catch is that competition in the sector for tablet PCs — not Lenovo's strongest area — will heat up because the operating system is designed to run on laptops and tablets. Mizuho analyst Charles Park forecasts the PC market will grow by just 3 percent this year. Lenovo's tablets, its LePads, will also face competition from new products, including the next versions of Amazon.com Inc's Kindle Fire and Apple Inc's iPad, as well as Google Inc's Nexus 7 and Microsoft Corp's Surface. -Reuters 
| | Iraqis escape country's woes at lake resort Posted: 15 Jul 2012 08:06 PM PDT The Habbaniyah Tourism City, which lies between Fallujah and Ramadi, two of the main Sunni insurgent strongholds of past years, offers swimming, boating and a cinema. Hundreds of people relax on the beach to escape the violence, political chaos and lack of basic services that define everyday life in Iraq. "I come here every week with my family and friends to escape from the daily problems like unemployment … politics and sectarianism," said Abdul Rahman Mohammed, 25, an unemployed university graduate. "When we see the Iraqis here, they are not Sunni, or Shiite, Kurd or Christian, and they have smiles on their faces, we forget everything else," said Mohammed, who holds a bachelor's degree in administration and economics. His brother, 29-year-old Abdul Qader, who has a degree in history and is also unemployed, said European tourists should "come here to see the real Iraq." The Habbaniyah Tourism City, which includes a 300-room hotel, 528 chalets, docks for boats, a cinema, shops, sports fields and five restaurants, originally opened in 1979. But it fell on hard times after Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of neighbouring Kuwait and decade of international sanctions that followed. The situation worsened after the 2003 US-led invasion, when insurgents used the area as a base. "Terrorist groups set up their headquarters in the city in 2006 and 2007 because it is in an isolated desert area and American forces were not present," said Captain Laurens Saad al-Essawi, the deputy police chief. But "we entered the city in 2008 and were able to clean it from the terrorists and it has been safe since then," he added. A year later Habbaniyah was back in business. Jet skis ply the lake all day, while families sit under small coloured tents on the shore with the men entertaining the children and the women, most of whom wear headscarves, preparing meals. The resort "doesn't belong to any specific sect," its director general, Hamid Abbud Tarrad told AFP. "All Iraqis from north to south have nice memories (of Habbaniyah), since 90 percent of Iraqis have visited it," he said. The lakeside resort reopened in March 2009 and 5,000 visitors were there for the ceremony, Tarrad said. "We now receive between 5,000 to 10,000 people during the holidays and about 30,000 on feasts and special occasions," Tarrad said. Oasis of calm At the beginning of the year a Turkish company began rehabilitating the resort, with plans on managing the site over the next 25 years. "We hope that the city… will regain its historical position on the Arab and international tourism map," said Tarrad, noting that in 1982 Tourism City was voted the best resort in the region by the World Tourism Organisation. Habbaniyah is not without its problems, however. Rubbish is strewn on the beach and floating in the lake. Recently a fight involving dozens of people wielding knives and sticks broke out – apparently over a woman – and was only stopped when members of the security forces showed up and drew their pistols. But compared to the rest of Iraq, Habbaniyah is still an oasis of calm. While violence in Iraq has declined from its peak in 2006 and 2007, bombings and shootings are a reality of everyday life, killing 132 people in May, according to official figures. And the country has been hit by a series of intertwined political crises that began with accusations that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was monopolising power and escalated into calls for his ouster. The Iraqi government is paralysed, and most people have to live with woefully inadequate basic services, especially when it comes to electricity and clean water. "I used to come here before the collapse (of Saddam's regime), and today we have returned to Habbaniyah," said Umm Baqr, a 40-year-old who works at the education ministry. "We only feel happy when we swim. The water is our only breathing space," she said. -AFP 
| | PM: RM100mil 'Seed Money' for IM4U Volunteer Program Posted: 15 Jul 2012 05:38 AM PDT | | India clamps down on killer chewing tobacco Posted: 15 Jul 2012 07:55 PM PDT Like millions of young Indians, the factory worker was for years hooked on "gutka" – a cheap, mass-produced mix of tobacco, crushed areca nut and other ingredients that several states are now trying to wipe out. "It gave me a high. It felt nice," Kanade told AFP quietly at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, where he is due to undergo surgery. The father-of-two, whose swollen cheek hints at his disease, is aged just 35. His brother Datta travelled with him from their village in rural Maharashtra state, where he says children start munching on colourful sachets of gutka, each priced at only one rupee (two US cents), at the age of just 11 or 12. "I'm not sure if the government can ban it or not, but they should," Datta said. Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, on Wednesday became the fourth state this year to outlaw gutka, which campaigning doctors say is targeted at children — even though Indian law prohibits tobacco sales to those under 18. They point the finger primarily at gutka for India's 75,000 to 80,000 new cases of oral cancer a year, the highest in the world, according to the US-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Bihar states have already banned gutka this year, following the earlier example of Goa, while others including Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, are considering similar action. But they face a struggle – not only to enforce the law on the streets, but to overcome the powerful lobby of the billion-dollar gutka industry, which is disputing the bans on the grounds they are unlawful. Leading the anti-gutka fight in Mumbai is Kanade's surgeon, Pankaj Chaturvedi, a head and neck cancer specialist. He says half of his mouth cancer patients die within 12 months of diagnosis, while the rest are left severely disabled. While tobacco has been chewed across the subcontinent for centuries, often in a concoction known as "paan", Chaturvedi said gutka took over in recent decades as a more convenient, ready-made version for modern life. "It comes in a pouch, it doesn't make your tongue and mouth red and it doesn't make an urge for spitting," he said, listing substances found in gutka including lead, arsenic, copper, chromium and nickel. The youngest addict he has treated was a 13-year-old boy, who died of an advanced form of mouth cancer. "Gutka captured both economic strata, the poorest and the richest. They advertised very strategically to capture the entire youth," he said. An estimated five million Indian children are hooked on tobacco, although specific chewing figures are unclear, while the Global Adult Tobacco Survey in 2010 showed that 206 million Indians aged over 15 were using smokeless forms. The states now shifting such products off the shelves are taking their cue from a ruling by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India in August last year, which said tobacco could not be used in food products. Their moves are hotly contested by the Smokeless Tobacco Federation (India), an association of chewing tobacco businesses, which is launching court petitions to get them overturned. "What they are doing is totally unconstitutional," the group's executive director Sanjay Bechan told AFP. "Tobacco is tobacco. Food is food," he said, insisting that gutka comes under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act of 2003 and cannot be governed by food safety regulations. Bechan said an end to the smokeless tobacco industry, worth about $2.5 billion, threatened the livelihoods of millions. Chewable products, he added, were being unfairly blamed for tobacco deaths largely caused by smoking. "How can you guarantee if gukta is banned people will not smoke?" For now, complete eradication remains far from imminent. With gutka banned in just small patches of India, officials face an uphill battle to keep the product at bay while it remains legal in most of India's 28 states. "It's a struggle to keep the supplies under control. The borders are porous, there's no restrictions on trade," said Ashwini Kumar Rai, the Food Safety Commissioner in Madhya Pradesh, where a ban was introduced in April. He said they had since shut down eight gutka manufacturing factories in the state and acted on public tip-offs to seize 10 million rupees ($180,000) worth of supplies, which are no longer sold prominently in shops. "That's something that we have succeeded in completely eliminating. The trade has since gone underground," Rai said. Health workers believe clandestine sales will at least force the price up by five to ten times and make it more difficult for youngsters to purchase. "If children will not have access, then I see a better future," said Chaturvedi. -AFP 
| | Singh claims Scottish play-off victory Posted: 15 Jul 2012 07:41 PM PDT  GLASGOW: Jeev Milkha Singh beat Francesco Molinari in a play-off to win the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart after Marc Warren blew a three-shot lead.
Singh, 40, carded a final round of 67 to force a play-off with overnight leader Molinari and birdied the first extra hole to take the £470,000 cheque. Singh also took the last qualifying place for next week's Open at Lytham. Warren held a three-shot lead with four holes to go but faded away after a disastrous double bogey at the 15th.
Warren started the day two shots behind Molinari but looked set for victory and a place at The Open when he held a three-shot cushion teeing off at the 15th. But a double bogey at 15 followed by a bogey at 16 dropped him back into a four-way tie for the lead with Alexander Noren, Singh and Molinari. He then hit a wayward chip onto the green at 17 to drop another shot and ended up in a tie for third with Noren. Warren told BBC Sport: "It was surreal how easy it all was up until that point. "I was still ahead after the double bogey but I lost concentration on a putt of a couple of feet and it is one of those things that happens in golf. "It was all a bit disappointing. "It was in my hands with four holes to go, it was up to me but I didn't finish it off." Singh had earlier hit a five under par 67 to take the clubhouse lead and then watched as Warren and then Noren dropped out of contention. Molinari came up the last knowing that a birdie would win the title, but was left with a lengthy two-putt and could only make par to force the play-off after a round of level par 72. The pair played the par-five 18th again, with Molinari having the first putt for birdie but leaving his effort well short.
Singh then holed superbly to take his first win of the year. His best performance this season had been a seventh place finish at the Stockholm Masters. The Indian can now look forward to his second appearance at the Open after missing the cut at Carnoustie five years ago. "I would say I'm a very fortunate man," said Singh after his victory on Sunday. "I'm looking forward to the Open championship. Coming from India I'm not used to links courses but since coming to Europe I've played a lot of links courses. -Agencioes 
| | All medalists to be drugs tested at Olympics Posted: 15 Jul 2012 07:53 PM PDT  LONDON: The Games will see the biggest anti-doping operation in the history of the Olympic Games.
Half of all the competitors are to be tested for drugs, with 150 scientists set to take 6,000 samples between now and the end of the Paralympic Games. Every competitor who wins a medal will also be tested.
Continue reading the main story "I'm confident that everything possible is being done to catch drug cheats at London 2012 and that makes these Games really special" Team GB's Phillips Idowu, Beth Tweddle, David Weir, Graham Edmunds and Marlon Devonish are fronting a campaign highlighting the anti-doping programme. Sprinter Devonish won an Olympic gold in the 4x100m relay at the 2004 Athens Games. He said: "Winning an Olympic medal is the best feeling in the world and as an athlete it's so important to know that anyone who stands on the podium has got there through their own hard work and dedication, not by doping." Team GB sprinter Dwain Chambers and cyclist David Millar will compete in London after the British Olympic Association's policy of punishing drug cheats with lifetime bans was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. More than 1,000 people will staff the anti-doping laboratory, with up to 400 samples tested every day for more than 240 prohibited substances. Double gold medal-winning Paralympic swimmer Edmunds was part of the winning 4x100m freestyle relay teams in Athens and Beijing. "Winning medals is like an addiction," he said. "Once you have one, you want another. "It's my biggest motivation. And knowing you've reached the podium because of all the hard work you've put in – nine sessions a week, two hours each session, three gym sessions a week for four years – is the greatest feeling. "I'm confident that everything possible is being done to catch drug cheats at London 2012 and that makes these Games really special." -Agencies 
| | Villas-Boas hits out at Chelsea Posted: 15 Jul 2012 07:40 PM PDT  LONDON: Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has criticised former club Chelsea but says he is not out for revenge against them.
Villas-Boas took over at Chelsea in June 2011 and was sacked in March 2012. "Words did not meet the actions of what we were doing [at Chelsea] in terms of the project, so I think I was cut short," he said. "This club [Tottenham] is much more important than me and what I have to do is try to take them to success and not make it a personal issue."
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich replaced Villas-Boas with Roberto Di Matteo in March and the Blues went on to win the Champions League and FA Cup. But Villas-Boas, 35, who took over as Spurs boss this summer following the dismissal of predecessor Harry Redknapp, pointed out differences in characteristics between Tottenham and Chelsea. "I met the [Spurs] chairman [Daniel Levy], and saw the way he goes about his business at the club," said the Portuguese. "He knows what he is doing, approaching the market in a different way. He is a person of great football understanding and he had the effect of giving me the assurances I wanted in terms of building something. "Tottenham are linked with great football in the past. It is something they have always valued highly. There is a wonderful history of attractive football, and Bill Nicholson left these messages of football well played and doing things in style, which is what I want to achieve as well. "The structures that surround Tottenham are extremely good. There are competent people in and around the football club. The club is driven towards success, and everybody knows they must play a part in achieving that success. "They are not looking for certain scapegoats, and when so many people are striving forward, it makes your job easier." Tottenham playmaker Rafael van der Vaart has been linked with leaving White Hart Lane but Villas-Boas insists he wants to keep the Dutch international. "With Van der Vaart, at the moment I am absolutely counting on him," he said. -Agencies 
| | Libyan Olympic chief taken by gunmen in Tripoli Posted: 15 Jul 2012 07:01 PM PDT  TRIPOLI: Libya's Olympic committee president was taken from his car by gunmen in Tripoli yesterday and his whereabouts are unknown, colleagues said.
Nabil Elalem was in his car with a colleague when two cars carrying men in military-style clothing blocked them off, another colleague, Arafat Jwan, said. "They told him he was needed and he had to go with them. He asked if he could take his phone and laptop with him and then the cars sped away with him," Jwan said, adding that Elalem's colleague was left in the car. It was not clear who the men were. Ezz-Edine Journaz, a spokesman for the committee, told an independent Libyan television channel that the men had claimed to be from the army and had asked him to come with them "politely". He said the group of about eight or nine were armed. Sports and Youth Minister Fethi Tarbel said he had been informed about the matter and called for Elalem's immediate release. "We condemn this kind of action. Whoever did this are criminals," he told Reuters by phone. "This goes against the revolution, this brings us back to the Gaddafi culture … I don't know if he had any issues with anyone." Since the end of last year's uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, the interim government has struggled to control a myriad armed groups who refuse to lay down their weapons and often take the law into their own hands and detain people. -Reuters 
| | Jason Kidd arrested on drunk driving charge after accident Posted: 15 Jul 2012 06:57 PM PDT  NEW YORK: NBA star Jason Kidd was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated early yesterday after his car struck a telephone pole in the Hamptons area of New York's Long Island, police said.
He pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor, his lawyer said. Kidd, a 10-time all-star who recently signed with the New York Knicks, was treated for minor injuries at the hospital and released from custody on his own recognizance, police said. Kidd, 39, has played 18 years in the National Basketball Association and won an NBA championship with the 2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks. Southampton Town Police reported receiving a call shortly before 2 a.m. about a car that struck a telephone pole and went into the woods. "Police responded to the scene and found the driver of the vehicle, Jason Kidd, age 39 of Dallas, Texas, to be intoxicated," police said in a statement. "It was a single car accident in which Mr. Kidd was the single occupant of the 2010 Cadillac Escalade." Eddie Burke Jr., a lawyer representing Kidd, said his client pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on Sunday. Burke declined to comment on Kidd's injuries and said he was awaiting further evidence from the investigation ahead of a September court date. "(Kidd) is doing OK," Burke said. "He was released on his own recognizance and has to come back to court in September." -Reuters 
| | Liverpool reject Newcastle Carroll bid Posted: 15 Jul 2012 07:33 PM PDT  LIVERPOOL: Liverpool have refused to consider Newcastle's initial attempt to sign Andy Carroll on a season-long loan.
Newcastle offered to pay part of striker Carroll's £80,000-a-week wages, with a view to a permanent deal at a specified price next summer. But the terms fall some way short of Liverpool's expectations. The Anfield club rejected the initial offer on Sunday night and Liverpool's preference is a sale, rather than to loan out the 23-year-old. Sources close to 23-year-old England striker Carroll maintain his preferred option is to remain at Anfield to try to prove himself to Rodgers. Liverpool begin their pre-season tour of North America on Monday and Carroll, who is currently on an extended holiday after Euro 2012, is due to join up with the squad on 23 July. West Ham co-owner David Gold has also said the Upton Park club would be interested in signing Carroll. Carroll struggled with Liverpool until belatedly showing form and goals towards the end of last season. He headed the winner for Liverpool against Blackburn, while also scoring against Everton in a FA Cup semi-final win and the 2-1 loss to Chelsea in the final. He scored for England at Euro 2012 in a win against Sweden, but he appears to have fallen out of favour at Anfield. Rodgers signed striker Fabio Borini from Roma earlier this week in his first signing since taking over as Liverpool manager. He is also planning contract talks to keep Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez at Anfield but he has been less committal when talking about Carroll's future. The lure of Newcastle's approach cannot be underestimated for Carroll considering the success he enjoyed at his hometown club. He helped the Magpies back into the Premier League with 17 league goals in the 2009-10 Championship season. Carroll continued his promising form in the top-flight in the following campaign and made his senior England debut under Fabio Capello in a 2-1 defeat at Wembley by France. He scored 11 times in 19 league games before becoming the most expensive British player when ex-Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish took him to Anfield. -Agencies 
| | Berbatov says Ferguson would sell him for five million pounds Posted: 15 Jul 2012 07:10 PM PDT  LONDON: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is willing to sell out-of-favour striker Dimitar Berbatov for five million pounds, the Bulgarian said on Sunday.
Berbatov, who has scored a record 48 goals for Bulgaria, has lost his starting spot at United even though the club took up an extra year's option on his contract in March. He joined United from Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 for 30.7 million pounds. "I read the papers and I see they say 10 million pounds is my price. I go and talk with Sir Alex, and he says to me five million," the 31-year-old Berbatov wrote on his Facebook page. "So who is telling the truth, what do you think? I love this club but I am not going to be useful to anyone if I am not playing. And I want to play. "But for unknown reasons it's not going to happen, or my chances will be limited, so it's better for everyone if we say goodbye." Berbatov scored 14 goals in his first season at United and found the target 12 times in his second season before finishing the following campaign as top goalscorer with 22. However, last season he found himself behind Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez in the pecking order for a starting place as Ferguson admitted earlier this year that he would not be able to guarantee the Bulgarian regular first-team action. 
| | National centre gives England grounds for hope Posted: 15 Jul 2012 06:55 PM PDT  BURTON, (England): An idea first discussed in 1975 and which has overcome a series of planning delays finally becomes reality next month when England's 100-million-pound national football centre opens in the centre of the country.
Nearly 50 years after Italy opened its national football base at Coverciano near Florence, a quarter of a century after France built its base at Clairefontaine outside Paris, and years after the Ciudad del Futbol centre started near Madrid, England has St George's Park, its own state-of-the art training centre. The aims are three-fold: to improve the standard of coaching in the English game, to increased the number of coaches at all levels to ensure that England never again needs a foreign coach and to produce English players capable of winning a major title. While Wembley is the spiritual home of English football, David Sheepshanks, the chairman of St George's Park wants the new complex to become the nerve centre. "It's a nerve centre, it's a think tank, I would say a Mecca for the England game. Of the values we have created around this place, one of them is to be accessible because we want it to be aspirational. The other part is that it is a meeting place for ideas." The complex is set in the heart of the Staffordshire countryside close to the town of Burton-on-Trent. No expense has been spared on the centre which includes 12 training pitches, including a full-size indoor one and one which has the special turf used at Wembley. There are two luxury hotels where the England team and staff will stay in private areas before matches, but which are also open to the public. The sporting facilities are among the best in the country with anti-gravity running machines, altitude chambers, hydrotherapy pools with underwater treadmills and an athletics track with built-in pressure pads. There is a multi-purpose indoor sports hall plus five gymnasiums, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a six-lane 30-degree running hill and jogging routes on the 330-acre site – and some of the best technical equipment money can buy. Banqueting suites, medical facilities and a conference centre are also on the complex, built in the last 17 months. Sheepshanks says the current group of elite players will benefit from the place but, the real success or otherwise of St George's Park will not be judged for at least 10 years. "France opened Clairefontaine in 1988 and won the World Cup 10 years later, Italy benefited from Coverciano years later and Spain from their school in due course, and so we are not asking to be judged on immediate results. "We have identified a number of desired outcomes. They include increasing the number of qualified coaches in this country, increasing the standard of qualified coaches and increasing the number of homegrown managers in charge of Premier League teams we would have available to coach our national teams. "So if we get this right, by definition, we should never need to appoint another coach from overseas." Technical director The Football Association (FA) are expected to appoint the technical director to run St George's Park and work closely with England manager Roy Hodgson soon. "He or she will appoint the coach education staff and we have some very good educators," Sheepshanks said, adding that not all the educators needed to be English. "We have seven million players in this country and 103,000 qualified coaches, a ratio of one to 69. "If we do it right and hit our target by 2018 we want a quarter of a million qualified coaches so the ratio will be one to 25. The teacher has the defining influence. "We are coming up to the Olympics and there won't be one Olympic champion who hasn't got a world-class coach behind them." Other sports and teams will be able to hire the facilities at St George's Park, but mainly it is for players and coaches of the 24 national representative sides under the FA's umbrella, including juniors, women's teams and the disabled. Sheepshanks also hopes the centre will help to create a new kind of English player for the future – one who can take responsibility for themselves on and off the pitch. "The football side will be down to the technical director," he said. "We have all seen how the Euros played out and how the superior techniques of the Spanish helped them retain the title. "Trevor Brooking (the FA's director of football development) is always saying that we need to develop more technically adept players but also more responsible players, thinking players. "So the ethos of St George's Park will be to focus on those aims, to encourage a sense of personal ownership and a responsibility for the player's career development." The opening of the complex is a milestone, coming nearly 40 years after it was first proposed. The first team to use it will be England's under-17s next month with the senior squad using it for the first time before their opening World Cup qualifiers in September. "The English FA have made a statement of intent here," said Sheepshank, "We are now starting the hard work to achieve the success we crave." -Reuters 
|
|
