S. Korea police storm church compound in search for ferry owner |
- S. Korea police storm church compound in search for ferry owner
- US bus company to dispatch museums on wheels
- Bullet-proof blankets new US ‘defence’ against shootings
- Sterling saga continues with reported hearing set for today
- Asia stocks extend one-year high, calmed by stabilising China
- Two dead in new US school shooting
| S. Korea police storm church compound in search for ferry owner Posted: 10 Jun 2014 06:20 PM PDT
Live television reports showed police officers, some in full riot gear, streaming into the sprawling church and farming complex at around 8:00 am (0000 GMT) in Anseong, 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Seoul. A spokesman for the Gyeonggi province police force said 6,000 officers were involved in the raid. The huge operation came a day after President Park Geun-Hye urged police and prosecutors to step up a nationwide manhunt for Yoo Byung-Eun, 72, a leading member of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Korea. Yoo is the patriarch of the family behind the Chonghaejin Marine Co — the company that owned and operated the 6,825-tonne Sewol passenger ferry which sank on April 16 with the loss of 300 lives, most of them schoolchildren. "Yoo must be brought to justice," Park told a cabinet meeting. He is wanted for questioning on possible charges of embezzlement and criminal negligence, as prosecutors investigate the extent to which the Sewol disaster was caused by a lack of safety standards and regulatory violations. Yoo has no direct stake in Chonghaejin, but his children and close aides control it through a complex web of holding companies. Prosecutors have offered a reward of close to 500 million won (RM157,143) for information leading to the capture of Yoo and 100 million won for that of his eldest son, Yoo Dae-Kyun. Police had raided the church complex in Anseong three weeks ago but came away empty-handed, amid reports that Yoo may have fled overseas. The main target of today's large-scale operation was not immediately clear. TV reports suggested the police were still hoping to find Yoo and his son, while the Yonhap news agency said the main targets were two senior church followers believed to have helped Yoo evade capture. The live footage showed police searching the compound's main church building. Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment. Yonhap said church followers had erected a barricade at the entrance to the complex, but made no move to block the police after they forced their way through. The operation also came a day after the trial opened of 15 of the Sewol's surviving crew. The captain and three of his senior crew members are charged with "homicide through wilful negligence" and could face the death penalty if convicted. — AFP  |
| US bus company to dispatch museums on wheels Posted: 10 Jun 2014 06:14 PM PDT
The cross-country tour will include two buses converted into mobile museums that will feature vintage signage, driver uniforms, interactive touchscreen displays and a wall that traces the company's transformation over the years. Over the years, the company has played a supporting, lead or catalyst role in a few defining moments in history. For example, more than a decade before Rosa Parks sparked a civil rights revolution by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, another moment of bravery was played out on a Greyhound bus in 1944, when Irene Morgan stood up to the bus driver and likewise refused to give up her seat to a white person. After being arrested, her conviction was eventually overturned when the Supreme Court ruled that passenger segregation was unlawful on interstate buses. Morgan was traveling on a bus from Gloucester County, Virginia to Baltimore, Maryland. Back on the tour, classic coaches have also been restored to their former glory and will be joined by their 21st century incarnation, which now features amenities like free Wifi, leather seats, power outlets and more legroom. The tour started off in Boston last month and will travel throughout the US, visiting 40 cities over the next six months. The next stop is scheduled for Philadelphia on Saturday, June 14. For details on the Centennial Tour click this link. — AFP-Relaxnews |
| Bullet-proof blankets new US ‘defence’ against shootings Posted: 10 Jun 2014 05:59 PM PDT
Steve Walker, a 43-year-old father of two, said he developed the orange-colored shield — compared by US broadcaster NPR to a yoga mat — to give children greater protection from shootings and tornadoes. Walker says he was left frustrated by the murder of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012 and by a deadly tornado that hit schools in Oklahoma in May 2013. A gunman and a student were killed at an Oregon high school yesterday in the latest attack. Everytown for Gun Safety, the group set up by billionaire former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg to end gun violence, says there have been 74 school shootings since Sandy Hook. The massacre triggered intense debate about relatively lax US gun control laws, but measures supported by President Barack Obama failed in the Senate due to fierce opposition from gun rights supporters led by the National Rifle Association. Walker said he and his co-inventors wanted to get above the political deadlock and "develop something that hopefully both sides can agree upon." "We really don't take one side or another, because doing that just gets you where we currently are, and that is no protection for our children," he said by telephone from Oklahoma. Developers say the US$1,000 (RM3,207) blanket uses the same bullet resistant materials as the US military and will protect against 90 per cent of all weapons that have been used in US school shootings. Trademarked under the name "Bodyguard Blanket," its promotional video shows children crouching under the shield strapped to their backs, albeit with the sides of their bodies exposed. "By no means are we saying it will prevent all children from being injured. We're just reducing the chance," Walker told AFP. But the product has divided opinion. On the product's Facebook page, some criticise the bright orange color as likely to draw a shooter's attention. US media outlets have warned that at US$1,000 each, the blanket is likely to be beyond the budget of many school districts, even if substantial discounts are offered. Walker acknowledged bullet-resistant material is expensive, but he claimed the blankets work out up to five times cheaper than tornado shelters that can cost up to US$5 million to build. He is not the first to offer protective gear to US school children. A handful of other companies already market items such as bullet-proof backpacks and inserts. Inventor Stan Schone, who worked with Walker, said they have had individual customers and a number of school districts show interest since the product launched in late May. One customer bought 31 for his teacher mother and her entire class of students, he told AFP. "We've even had people asking if we can make them for dogs and cats," Schone added. "It's wild." — AFP |
| Sterling saga continues with reported hearing set for today Posted: 10 Jun 2014 05:57 PM PDT
The reported hearing before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge is the latest chapter in the Sterling saga, which erupted in April when racially charged remarks that Clippers owner Donald Sterling made to a girlfriend became public and sparked widespread outrage. With the NBA attempting to strip the Sterling family of the team, Donald Sterling's wife Shelly negotiated a US$2 billion (RM6.41 billion) sale of the club to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, but Donald Sterling this week vowed to fight that sale, and press on with a US$1 billion lawsuit against the NBA. The Times reported that Shelly Sterling was expected to ask a judge to confirm her position as head of a family trust and therefore authorised to sell the team. Pierce O'Donnell, attorney for Shelly Sterling, declined to comment on the situation, nor would he confirm plans for a court hearing. However, Donald Sterling's attorney, Maxwell Blecher, said he had been notified by Shelly Sterling's lawyers that they plan to go to court today to clarify who is in control of the trust. "The understanding we have is that she is going to go in and say that he has cognitive impairment that has prevented him from making decisions," Blecher told The Los Angeles Times. "And that is something we will oppose." Donald Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million dollars by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after his remarks disparaging black people became public in April. Sterling has argued that the comments were made in a private conversation recorded without his permission, and since that is illegal in California, can't be used as a basis for sanctions. He sued the league in federal court on the same day that Shelly Sterling announced she had agreed terms on the blockbuster sale to Ballmer. That sale agreement, which has the backing of the NBA but must still be approved by the league's board of governors, includes a provision in which Shelly Sterling indemnified the league against "lawsuits from others, including from Donald Sterling". The provision means that the Sterling family trust would pay any damages awarded in such a suit, so, as Silver put it this week "in essence, Donald is suing himself and he knows that." Donald Sterling had briefly said he would drop his lawsuit against the NBA and give his blessing to the sale, but on Monday made an about face. "The action taken by Adam Silver and the NBA constitutes a violation of my rights and fly in the face of the freedoms that are afforded to all Americans," Sterling said through attorney Bobby Samini on Monday. "I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights." — AFP |
| Asia stocks extend one-year high, calmed by stabilising China Posted: 10 Jun 2014 05:47 PM PDT
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.1 per cent to 143.98 as of 9.05am in Tokyo. The measure rallied 11 per cent through yesterday from this year's low in February amid signs of a stabilising economy in China and as authorities there eased bank collateral rules, while US data signalled a recovery is intact. "There isn't any news that can drive the market much higher," Tim Schroeders, a portfolio manager who helps oversee US$1 billion (RM3.2 billion) in equities at Pengana Capital Ltd in Melbourne, said by phone. "The global economic outlook is still a worry. While the US economy is recovering, emerging economies are continuing to see a slowdown." Japan's Topix index rose 0.2 per cent, while South Korea's Kospi index lost 0.1 per cent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.1 per cent and New Zealand's NZX 50 Index slipped 0.1 per cent. Markets in China and Hong Kong have yet to open. The World Bank cut its global growth forecast amid a weaker outlook for the US, Russia and China. The Washington-based lender predicts the world economy will expand 2.8 per cent this year, compared with a January projection of 3.2 per cent. The US prediction was reduced to 2.1 per cent from 2.8 per cent, while estimates for Brazil, Russia, India and China were also lowered. The 2015 forecast for world economic growth was unchanged at 3.4 per cent. Emerging index MSCI Inc won't include China's locally traded shares in its emerging-markets index, while South Korea and Taiwan were removed from consideration for an upgrade to developed market status, the index provider said in a statement. MSCI, which based its decision on limitations to investing in China's so-called A-shares, may consider an inclusion in 2015, it said. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.1 per cent. The US equity benchmark fell less than one point yesterday, halting a four-day streak of record-high closes, as investors weighed equity valuations. Shares on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index traded at 13.2 times estimated earnings yesterday compared with a multiple of 16.5 for the S&P 500 and 15.6 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. — Bloomberg |
| Two dead in new US school shooting Posted: 10 Jun 2014 05:45 PM PDT
The gunman, said to be another student armed with a rifle, also died in the incident at Reynolds High School in the northwestern US state, taking his own life according to media reports. Witnesses reported students and teachers cowering in classrooms as the shooting unfolded. One teacher also suffered non life-threatening injuries, police said. As the drama unfolded, live TV pictures showed the increasingly common sight of students filing out of the school with their hands on their heads. "My daughter was just shaking and scared," said one mother. "She was huddled in the corner of a room with some students and had the lights out," she told KOIN 6 television. "When a SWAT team person unlocked the door to her room she freaked out, thinking that it was the shooter coming in," the mother, identified as Becky, told the broadcaster. Troutdale Police Chief Scott Anderson said officials had tentatively identified the shooter, but would not immediately release the name. He added that, during the school search, another gun was found, and its owner taken into custody. He stressed that this appeared totally separate from Tuesday's shooting. This was the fourth shooting in three weeks in the former Wild West region of the United States. Epidemic of gun violence On May 23, a student with mental problems, the son of a Hollywood director, went on a gun rampage at a college campus in Santa Barbara, north of Los Angeles, killing six people and then himself. On June 5, a gunman killed one person and injured two others on on a college campus in the northwestern US city of Seattle, in what the local mayor denounced as America's "epidemic of gun violence." Then on Sunday, a couple with possible links to anti-government militia shot dead two police officers execution-style in a Las Vegas pizza restaurant, before killing another civilian nearby and then themselves. Previous mass shootings, like that which killed 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012, have triggered intense debate about America's relatively lax gun control laws. But the latest wave had triggered only muted public debate, possibly due to the scale and regularity of the killings or the the lack of concrete progress generated by previous protests. President Obama changed that yesterday, launching a heart-felt lament that such attacks were "becoming the norm" — and dismissing the argument shootings were primarily a mental health issue. "The United States does not have a monopoly on crazy people," the president said during a Tumblr online forum. "It's not the only country that has psychosis, and yet we kill each other in these mass shootings at rates that are exponentially higher than any place else. "What's the difference? The difference is that these guys can stack up a bunch of ammunition in their houses." The school where yesterday's shooting occurred has some 2,800 students, although many of them finished classes last week, so it was unclear how many were on site. National and local TV news channels covered the scene live, showing large numbers of armed police scrambling to lock down the school after reports of shots fired around 8:00 am. But about an hour later, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said the situation was "stabilised." — AFP |
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