Turkey rejects Russian claims over US ships in Black Sea

Turkey rejects Russian claims over US ships in Black Sea
Yemen soldier killed in ambush
KLIA2 to open on schedule
Don’t abolish Open Approved Permit, urges Pekema
Special committee to study economic impact on Malaysia-China trade
MH370: Ocean shield continues more focused sweeps

Posted: 12 Apr 2014 07:22 PM PDT

TURKEY: Turkey on Saturday dismissed as "out of the question" claims from Russia that it had allowed US warships to stay longer in the Black Sea than permitted under international law.

Russia has complained that US warships have remained in the Black Sea longer than the 21 days allowed by an international treaty, amid ongoing tensions between Moscow and the West.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that US vessels had "a couple of times" stayed longer than 21 days, contravening the 1936 Montreux Convention.

"We brought this to the attention of the American side and of course Turkey, which is the country that hosts the straits," Lavrov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti state news agency.

But Ankara hit back, with the foreign ministry dismissing as "odd" Russia's insistence on the convention, which limits the stay of warships from countries that do not border the Black Sea.

A Russian diplomat was called into the foreign ministry on Friday to hear Turkey's views on the matter.

According to Russian media, the USS Taylor stayed too long in Black Sea waters, under the pretext it needed a propeller screw repaired in the Turkish port of Samsun.

The USS Taylor had been patrolling during the Sochi Olympics.

ITAR-TASS state news agency reported that another US vessel — the guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun — visited ports in Romania and Bulgaria for naval exercises last month.

The increased sea traffic came at a time of growing tension between the West and Russia over Crimea, a predominantly ethnic Russian peninsula housing the Kremlin's Black Sea fleet.

Crimea and the city of Sevastopol were proclaimed Russia's two new regions after the March 16 referendum, which was condemned by Western powers as illegitimate.

Turkey, a NATO ally, has said it does not recognise the result of the referendum, voicing fears about the fate of the Turkish-speaking Tatar minority in Crimea, which was part of the Ottoman Empire until it was conquered by Russia in the late 18th century.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday that Russia is "more and more" isolated over its actions in Ukraine — a warning that came after NATO released satellite pictures showing up to 40,000 Russian troops massed along Ukraine's border. -AFP

Yemen soldier killed in ambush

Posted: 12 Apr 2014 06:08 PM PDT

YEMEN: Gunmen ambushed a Yemeni army vehicle carrying ammunition to troops in a southeastern Al-Qaeda bastion, killing a soldier and wounding three others, a security official said.

The unknown assailants, who were parked in a car on the side of a road in the town of Taryam in Hadramawt province, opened fire at the vehicle as it passed by, the official said.

Troops from a nearby military camp then clashed with the attackers, who managed to flee, he added.

Yemen has seen regular attacks on its security forces, usually blamed on the local franchise of Al-Qaeda, which remains active in the south and east despite several military operations and US drone strikes against it.

A military official said earlier this month that militants belonging to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had established hideouts and training bases in the vast Hadramawt province after the army drove them out of cities in the southern province of Abyan in 2012. -AFP

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KLIA2 to open on schedule

Posted: 12 Apr 2014 12:15 PM PDT

Acting Transport Minister confident new terminal can meet May 2 deadline after passing safety exercise

SEPANG: There is time to ensure that the date set for the opening of klia2 on May 2 becomes a reality, said Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

He said klia2 is safe for use, which was reflected by the smoothness of the Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) exercise.

Hishammuddin made an official visit to the KLIA2 site yesterday and witnessed the full-fledged ORAT exercise as well as checking the safety level of the new terminal.

Some 3,000 trainees from the National Service Training Programme (PLKN) and 1,500 from the general public, with 700,000 luggages, are involved in preparing the terminal for its opening set on May 2.

"With the PLKN students and few airline passengers involved today, as the Minister of Defence, I would not allow my national service trainees to be here today if the airport is really unsafe," he told a press conference, which was also opened to the public, here yesterday.

ORAT is a comprehensive methodology and holistic approach employed to ensure the operational readiness of a new airport or airport infrastructure project.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has run the ORAT since early February.

On April 2, Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi announced that the low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Sepang would be closed on May 9.

Abdul Aziz, who was also present to witness the ORAT exercise, said the exercise would end on April 30 and that the programme has been running successfully.

He said the passengers service charge would remain the same at RM32, similar to the amount being charged at the LCCT.

"The charge is for the first year only, as a promotion, After one year, we will hand over to the government to make a revision," he added.

Meanwhile, speaking to Bernama, an aviation student from UniKL Malaysia Institute of Aviation Technology, Muhammad Fawwaz Amiruddin, 23, said he was enthralled by the new airport, saying the design looked better than the KLIA.

"I believe more people would be attracted to this airport as I am, and we can't wait for its officially opening," he said.

Nurul Ain Aliasan, 27, said the environment at KLIA2 was very comfortable and not congested, as the new terminal was built with bigger space and adopted user-friendly equipment.

"This airport utilises the latest technology, better than the LCCT, which is crowded and no longer up-to-date.

"The check-in system is more convenient and saves time, which will really help passengers who travel with infants and small children," she said.

Plus Bhd Technical Assistant Awangku Hisyam Awangku Hidup, 32, who was here for the third day to witness the ORAT, said the operation has improved compared to his first visit to KLIA2 on March 27.

"The facilities and the operations are considered smooth, but they (MAHB) need to improve the signage, which is very confusing.

"Besides that, the distance from the check-in counter to boarding gate for international flights is about 1.5 kilometres, so it's not a problem for us who are young, but a problem for the elderly," he said. — Bernama

Don’t abolish Open Approved Permit, urges Pekema

Posted: 12 Apr 2014 12:11 PM PDT

by Irene C, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on April 13, 2014, Sunday

KUCHING: Association of Malay Importers and Traders of Motor Vehicles Malaysia (Pekema) is worried about the effects of the abolishment of the Open Approved Permit (AP) on Bumiputera entrepreneurs.

Its central deputy president Datuk Wan Zaid Wan Abdullah said there were talks that the abolishment would take effect next year.

"We hope the government will conduct an in-depth study on the effects of the abolishment of the Open AP. If implemented, the presence of Bumiputera entrepreneurs in the industry will cease to exist," he told a press conference after Pekema Sarawak's 26th annual general meeting (AGM) here yesterday.

He cautioned such a move would mean complicated steps for car loan applications and higher interest rates.

Without Open AP, the pricing of cars would rely solely on the manufacturers, and there would be no competition.

Open AP serves as a guideline for price of cars to ensure ordinary folks could afford cars, he explained.

Wan Zaid suggested that the RM10,000 levy for Open AP be abolished instead as it was unnecessary, a burden, and increases the price of cars.

He said a few years ago, the levy collected reached almost RM1billion, but it had yet to be distributed to members.

If abolished, the price of cars would be lowered and higher quality cars could be brought into the market for the benefit of the people, he argued.

Meanwhile, the AGM also discussed about increasing the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme of Pekema members, for example, on education and poverty eradication.

"We are sympathetic to the plight of the needy and the disabled. This year alone, we are sponsoring 10,000 students in Kuching area and Pekema spends RM5 million a year on CSR nationwide."

Wan Zaid said Pekema would work with the Education Department to help needy students in terms of tuition classes and other aid to help them do well in their studies.

Also present were Pekema honorary secretary Datuk Nadzir Sheikh Fazir, Pekema Sarawak president Datuk Abang Khalid Tan Sri Datuk Amar Abang Marzuki and Pekema Sarawak deputy president Ismail Saufi.

Special committee to study economic impact on Malaysia-China trade

Posted: 12 Apr 2014 12:10 PM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: The government has agreed to form a special committee to study the economic impact on trade and investment between Malaysia and China following the disappearance of Flight MH370 last month.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the committee, approved by the Cabinet yesterday, would be made up of his ministry, Finance Ministry, Tourism Ministry and the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).

"The economic impact committee would look into the overall current situation and formulate the best strategies including communications to ensure continuous investment and trade with China," he said at a media conference after launching the Entrepreneurial Development Unit (BPU) Outreach programme by the ministry here yesterday.

Mustapa said Malaysia was confident that investment and trade with China would continue to strengthen based on the diplomatic relationship between the two countries which dates back to 40 years ago.

He said the ministry so far has not seen any signs of decline in trade and investment activities involving China, except tourism which suffered a significant impact due to the Chinese dissatisfaction following the MH370 tragedy.

Flight MH370 with 227 passengers and 12 crew, went missing in the early morning on March 8, one hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12.45 am.

The aircraft was supposed to have landed in Beijing at 6.30 am on the same day.

Search and rescue efforts for the aircraft are still ongoing in the Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile, Mustapa said investment in Sabah, especially in the east coast such as Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) in Lahad Datu was not affected after the armed group intrusion in Lahad Datu incident in Kampung Tanduo, on Feb 12, last year and the kidnap of two foreign nationals at Singamata Adventures Reef Resort near Semporna, on April 2, this year.

"There is a slight impact, but it is not alarming since the federal government is committed and we are confident that the federal government would make a radical change in terms of software asset and personnel to ensure the security of Sabah," he said.

On the one-day outreach programme, he said Sabah was the first location in the BPU Outreach programme, which would also be organised in Kedah, Pahang, Terengganu and Sarawak.

He said the programme would emphasise on forging engagement with Asean and to brief on the implementation on the goods and services tax besides sharing information on Bumiputera development programme organised by BPU, MITI and their agencies. — Bernama

MH370: Ocean shield continues more focused sweeps

Posted: 12 Apr 2014 12:08 PM PDT

PERTH: As the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 enters the 36th day, the Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Ocean Shield continues more focused sweeps with the towed pinger locator to try and locate further signals related to the aircraft's black boxes.

The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said AP-3C Orions continued their acoustic search, working in conjunction with Ocean Shield while the oceanographic ship HMS Echo was also working in the area with Ocean Shield.

"There have been no confirmed acoustic detections over the past 24 hours," said the Agency in a statement yesterday.

The last two acoustic sound of pulse signals were picked up last Tuesday by Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Ocean Shield While a signal detected by Australian aircraft, AP-3C Orion on Thursday was discounted as it was not related to an aircraft underwater locator beacon.

JACC said a total of nine military aircrafts, one civil aircraft and 14 ships were involved in Saturday's search for MH370 in the Indian ocean, covering an area of 41,393 sq kilometres.

The centre of the search areas was approximately 2,331 kilometres north west of Perth, it said.

"The weather forecast for today is 10 knot south easterly winds with isolated showers, sea swells up to one metre and visibility of five kilometres in showers," said the Agency, adding that none of the objects retrieved from the search area were related to MH370.

Last Wednesday, JACC chief coordinator, Air Chief Marshal, Angus Houston (Retired) said the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle would be deployed once signals could no longer be detected.

The authority had estimated the black box's battery to last ten days longer than its 30-day's lifespan before it goes offline from transmitting pulse signals.

Since last Friday, the search team had detected six signals, where two were picked up by a Chinese vessel, Haixun 01 on April 4 and 5, and four by the Ocean Shield on April 5 and 8.

The black boxes recorded cockpit data that might provide answers to what happened to the plane.

Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew left the KL International Airport at 12.41 am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later, while over the South China Sea. It was to have arrived in Beijing at 6.30 am the same day.

A multinational search was mounted for the aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then, after it was learned that the plane had veered off course, along two corridors – the northern corridor stretching from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand and the southern corridor, from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.

Following an unprecedented type of analysis of satellite data, United Kingdom satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) concluded that Flight MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak then announced on March 24, seventeen days after the disappearance of the aircraft, that Flight MH370 "ended in the southern Indian ocean". — Bernama