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Newey pledges loyalty to Red Bull
JEREZ, Feb 7 – Adrian Newey emphasised his loyalty to Red Bull today, saying that walking out on the Formula One champions would feel like abandoning his children. In a clear sign he intended to see out his Formula One career with the British outfit, the design genius that every team in the paddock would like to poach said Red Bull felt very much ...
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Syria?s Assad open to bigger Arab mission
MOSCOW, Feb 7 — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is ready to accept an expanded Arab League mission in his violence-torn country and schedule a constitutional referendum, Russian news agencies quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying today. After talks in Damascus, Lavrov also said Assad had assured him he was “completely committed” ...
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India?s reluctant young emperor, Rahul Gandhi
BHAKURAI, India, Feb 7 — They call him the Yuva Samrat, or young emperor. Yet Rahul Gandhi has so far shown no inclination to claim the throne of the world’s largest democracy. The scion of India’s Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty could be prime minister if he asked for it, according to many members of his ruling Congress party. But instead he is ...
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Anfield cat becomes internet hit
LONDON, Feb 7 — A cat that invaded the famous Anfield turf for three minutes during Liverpool's 0-0 Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Monday has become an internet celebrity. Several Twitter sites claiming to be the real deal sprung up within hours of the moggy's Lionel Messi-like slalom across the pitch during the first half. One, ...
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Cavendish takes first win with Team Sky
DOHA, Feb 7 – World champion Mark Cavendish claimed his first victory with Team Sky when he won a sprint in the third stage of the Tour of Qatar today. Cavendish, who joined the British team this season, beat Belgian Tom Boonen at the end of a 146.5-km ride from Dukhan to Al Gharafa Stadium, with Lithuanian Aidis Kruopis coming home third. “I had ...
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Swiss cheese exports up in 2011
GENEVA, Feb 7 — Swiss cheese exports held firm in 2011 with smaller, speciality brands driving demand despite the strong Swiss franc, figures out yesterday showed. After a sluggish start, the industry managed to export 1.4 per cent or 921 tons more Swiss cheese by the end of 2011 than in the previous 12 months, Switzerland’s cheese marketing board ...
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Injured Li Na, Jankovic pull out of Paris Open
PARIS, Feb 7 – French Open champion Li Na retired injured from her first-round match against Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova at the Paris Open today. China’s Li, the world number nine, threw in the towel when she was 7-6 3-2 down. The third seed had called on the trainer earlier to treat back pain. Also today, former world number one Jelena Jankovic ...
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Italy court extends house arrest for cruise ship captain
FLORENCE, Feb 7 — An Italian court ruled today that Francesco Schettino, the captain of the cruise liner that ran aground and capsized off the island of Giglio, killing at least 17 people, must remain under house arrest. Schettino was arrested the day after the January 13 disaster, accused of manslaughter and abandoning the 114,000-tonne Costa ...
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Kremlin tells security force to stop attacks before poll
MOSCOW, Feb 7 — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the top security agency today to crack down on Islamist insurgents to prevent any attacks ahead of a March presidential election, which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is widely expected to win. The militants, who have called Putin their sworn enemy, are fighting to create an Islamist state ...
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Gulf states recalling ambassadors in Syria
DUBAI, Feb 7 — Gulf Arab countries announced today they were recalling their ambassadors from Damascus and expelling Syrian envoys in response to worsening violence in Syria. Syria’s rulers had rejected Arab attempts to “solve this crisis and prevent the bloodshed of the Syrian people,” a statement from the Gulf Cooperation Council said. “The ...
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Swatch captures the moment for Chinese watch demand
ZURICH, Feb 7 – Strong demand for expensive watches in China helped Swatch Group clock up an 18 per cent rise in 2011 profits and build some sales momentum for the current year too. The world watch industry number-one, which also announced a 15 per cent increase in its dividend payout today, said it had seen a double-digit percentage rise in watch ...
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Purple spuds can help lower blood pressure
LOS ANGELES, Feb 7 – Swapping regular spuds for purple potatoes could help lower blood pressure levels without adding unwanted weight gain, says a new US study. The reason? Pigmented potatoes contain high concentrations of phenolic acids, anthocyanins and carotenoids, powerful antioxidants that pack a nutritional punch, says a team of US ...
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Italy?s Berlusconi to face yet another trial
MILAN, Feb 7 — Silvio Berlusconi is to stand trial next month on charges of revealing confidential information in a case related to a 2005 banking scandal, adding to a string of legal woes, the former prime minister’s lawyer said today. Berlusconi, who resigned in November beset by scandals and financial market turmoil, is already facing three ...
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Scandal blow puts Indian government in danger
NEW DELHI, Feb 7 — There is no clamour for an early general election, but the latest blow dealt to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over a massive corruption scandal raises the risk that his wounded government could fall well before its mandate runs out in 2014. Singh is unlikely to quit following last week’s Supreme Court order for 122 telecoms ...
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Indonesia investors confident of coup at Rothschild?s Bumi
JAKARTA, Feb 7 – The Indonesian shareholders of Bumi Plc are confident they can shake up the miner’s board and remove co-chairman Nat Rothschild before creating the world’s biggest coal firm, major investor Samin Tan said today. Tan and Indonesia’s Bakrie Group, who together own 29.9 per cent voting rights in Bumi Plc, said last Friday they were ...
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Iran shrugs off latest US sanctions, trade suffers
TEHRAN, Feb 7 — Iran castigated its US adversary today over new financial measures to disrupt Iranian commerce, and a default on payment for rice purchases highlighted the encroachment of sanctions on the staples of everyday life. Lawmakers in Tehran vowed to ban crude exports to European countries even before an EU oil embargo takes effect. The ...
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Indonesia pilot grounded in pre-takeoff crystal meth check
JAKARTA, Feb 7 — Lion Air’s slogan “We make you fly” came a bit too close to home this weekend when one of the Indonesian airline’s pilots tested positive for crystal meth after being arrested just hours before he was due to take off. The 44-year-old pilot for Indonesia‘s largest domestic airline by passenger volume was arrested in a hotel on ...
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Greek talks check euro, results hit shares
LONDON, Feb 7 — The euro was underpinned today by hopes a way would be found to push through a second bailout deal for Greece, though fresh signs of exposure to Europe’s economic troubles among leading banks rekindled investor unease, sending shares lower. US stock index futures pointed to the unresolved Greek deal weighing on Wall Street at the ...
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Madonna world tour to start on May 29
LONDON, Feb 7 — Madonna will go on tour from May for the first time in three years, starting in Israel before moving on to Europe, with legs in South America and Australia, where she has not performed for 20 years, tour promotion company Live Nation said today. The 2012 World Tour will be the first for the Grammy Award-winning 53-year-old Material ...
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China to raise fuel prices tomorrow: Sinopec
BEIJING, Feb 7 – China will raise the ceiling on retail prices for petrol and diesel by 300 yuan (RM142.98) per tonne from tomorrow, a senior Sinopec official said, its first fuel price hike in 10 months. The hike has been anticipated by the industry. Energy consultancy C1 Energy last month flagged a potential price increase, saying that ...
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Fast food chicken chains in China ruffle feathers at KFC
BEIJING, Feb 7 — While Colonel Sanders may have the Chinese market under its wing, local chicken chains are also gaining on the US-based brand, says a new market research report on the top 10 global foodservice chains to watch out for. Since opening its first outpost in mainland China in 1987, KFC has become a ubiquitous presence, battering even ...
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Kidnapped Chinese workers in Sudan freed
KHARTOUM, Feb 7 — Rebel forces in Sudan’s border state of South Kordofan relesed 29 Chinese workers to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today, 10 days after they were kidnapped, Sudan’s foreign ministry said. The workers were handed over this morning to the ICRC, Sudan’s foreign ministry said. They were flown over from Kauda in ...
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Air France cancels half of long-haul flights
PARIS, Feb 7 – Air France cancelled one in two long-distance flights and about 30 per cent of medium-haul flights today as pilots stepped up protests over government plans to make strikers give two day’s notice before walk-outs, an airline spokeswoman said. Some 25,000 passengers have been notified of cancellations via text message or email and ...
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Why yet to question Shahrizat, Kit Siang asks MACC
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang is demanding answers as to why Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil has not been interrogated over the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal when she is due to resume ministerial duties tomorrow. The DAP advisor pointed out that the purpose of Shahrizat’s three-week leave was to allow investigators to ...
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Williams declare fresh F1 start after grim 2011
JEREZ, Feb 7 – Former world champions Williams presented their new car today and declared a fresh start after enduring their worst season in Formula One. A Renault engine has taken the place of last year’s Cosworth, Brazilian Bruno Senna has ousted veteran compatriot Rubens Barrichello and a new technical line-up is in charge following the ...
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Maldives president quits after mutiny on paradise islands
MALE, Feb 7 — President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, widely credited with bringing democracy to the hideaway resort islands, resigned today after weeks of opposition protests erupted into a police mutiny. Nasheed handed power over the Indian Ocean archipelago to Vice-President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, who was sworn in in the afternoon, ...
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Facebook may release more user data, say students
VIENNA, Feb 7 — US social media group Facebook seems ready to publish categories of data it collects from users, an Austrian student group lobbying for stricter privacy rules said on Tuesday. Facebook had agreed in December to overhaul privacy protection for more than half a billion users outside North America after a three-month investigation ...
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The road to Malaysia is sometimes paved with grammatical errors ? Farish A. Noor
FEB 7 — There are times when I can only assume that Malaysians have so much free time on their hands that they don’t know what to do with it. Today, as I was marking my students’ book reviews, I chanced upon an item on Facebook that caught my attention: A minor kerfuffle had erupted thanks to a naive and well-meaning, though poorly executed, ...
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Police deny trying to speed up deportation of ?PKR man?
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — The police denied today they were trying to expedite a “PKR man” detained in Indonesia who is said to be linked to a scandal involving a Selangor lawmaker. Federal CID chief Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin told The Malaysian Insider that last week’s arrest of a man identified by the Indonesian media as “Azmin Helmi” was an ...
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Bar Council wants government to pull Lynas license
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — The Bar Council demanded today Putrajaya revoke or at least suspend a temporary operating license (TOL) to Lynas Corp, saying the move was “hasty” and reckless. Its president Lim Chee Wee urged the federal government to take steps for a meaningful consultation with those likely to be most affected by the rare earth factory in ...
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