NASA deep-space rocket, SLS, to launch in 2018

NASA deep-space rocket, SLS, to launch in 2018
Jihadists anti-Islamic: exiled Brotherhood spiritual guide
Angkara bunyi hon
Bayi lahir dalam bas ekspres
Wanita kekal sasaran penjenayah
Murid dicabul tukang kebun

Posted: 27 Aug 2014 06:46 PM PDT

The US space agency's powerful deep-space rocket, known as the Space Launch System (SLS), aims to blast off for the first time in 2018, NASA said Wednesday.

The SLS has been in development for three years already, and when finished it should propel spacecraft beyond Earth's orbit and eventually launch crew vehicles to Mars by the 2030s.

NASA has now completed a thorough review of the project, signifying formal space agency commitment to the 70 metric ton version of the SLS at a cost of $7.021 billion from 2014 to 2018.

"The program is making real, significant progress," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA.

"We will keep the teams working toward a more ambitious readiness date, but will be ready no later than November 2018."

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however issued a report last month that called into question the space's agency's current funding plan for SLS, saying it "may be $400 million short of what the program needs."

The GAO also raised concerns about the development schedule and how engineers will integrate hardware that was designed to fly on a cancelled NASA program known as Constellation that would have returned humans to the Moon.

Gerstenmaier said NASA was taking those concerns into account and is seeking to address the GAO's recommendations.

The SLS is NASA's first heavy-lift launch vehicle in over 40 years, and the space agency has estimated total costs in developing the first of three SLS variants at $12 billion.

The SLS will "provide an unprecedented lift capability of 130 metric tons (143 tons), which will enable missions even farther into our solar system, including such destinations as an asteroid and Mars," NASA said.

The Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle is a separate project under development that aims to launch atop the SLS and carry people on a months-long journey to the Red Planet.

The first space flight test for Orion is set for December.

"We are moving. We are going now," said NASA associate administrator Robert Lightfoot.

"After rigorous review, we're committing today to a funding level and readiness date that will keep us on track to sending humans to Mars in the 2030s -? and we?re going to stand behind that commitment." -AFP/france24.com

Jihadists anti-Islamic: exiled Brotherhood spiritual guide

Posted: 27 Aug 2014 06:44 PM PDT

The organisation of exiled Muslim Brotherhood spiritual guide Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi said Wednesday that the actions of "deviant groups" like the jihadist Islamic State were in violation of Islamic law.

Qaradawi's International Union of Muslim Scholars described as "criminal and unlawful" an offensive led by the group's fighters against non-Muslims in northern Iraq earlier this month.

The Egyptian-born cleric wields huge influence with the Brotherhood's supporters across the Arab world through his frequent appearances on Al-Jazeera television from his base in exile in Qatar.

His group said it "categorically prohibits the actions of some excessive and deviant groups, such as killing innocent Muslims and non-Muslims, under the cover of repugnant sectarianism one time, or under the name of the so-called Islamic State the other time."

It was the latest in a series of condemnations of the Islamic State by Qaradawi's organisation since the jihadists launched a lightning offensive in Iraq's second city Mosul in early June, swiftly overrunning much of the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad.

The group also controls much of eastern Syria, including the whole of the Euphrates Valley province of Raqa and much of Deir Ezzor province downstream.

A UN-mandated probe charged Wednesday that public executions, amputations, lashings and mock crucifixions have become a regular fixture in areas of Syria controlled by IS.

Qaradawi, who was born in Egypt, has been based in Qatar for decades.

He is seen as a spiritual guide to the Brotherhood of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and is wanted by the authorities in Cairo where he faces trial in absentia.

Qatar had close ties with Egypt during Morsi's turbulent single year in power but relations nose-dived after his overthrow in July last year.

The gas-rich Gulf state has given refuge to a number of Brotherhood leaders who fled the bloody crackdown that followed Morsi's ouster.

Egypt has called on Qatar to respect a 1998 Arab counter-terrorism treaty and hand over Qaradawi and other wanted Islamists. -AFP

Angkara bunyi hon

Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:07 PM PDT

Oleh Michael Ubam //

SIBU: Seorang wanita warga emas yang terkejut selepas terdengar bunyi hon kereta lain, terlanggar pintu kaca kedai farmasi dan merempuh beberapa motosikal di lorong belakang Jalan Sentral, di sini petang semalam.

Difahamkan warga emas berumur 60-an itu sedang memarkir keretanya namun sebuah kereta yang datang dari belakang cuba membelok, tetapi lorong yang sempit di situ memaksa pemandu di belakangnya membunyikan hon.

Terkejut mendengar hon tersebut, warga emas itu panik dan tertekan pedal minyak menyebabkan keretanya meluru ke arah pintu kedai farmasi tersebut.

Seorang penunggang motosikal melalui lorong kecil tersebut turut dilanggar apabila dia cuba bergerak ke belakang.

Beberapa motosikal yang diparkir di lorong itu turut dirempuh manakala dua pemuda yang berada di situ turut nyaris dilanggar.

Wanita tua tersebut diambil oleh ahli keluarganya pulang ke rumah selepas insiden malang itu.

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Bayi lahir dalam bas ekspres

Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:03 PM PDT

KUCHING: Seorang wanita warga Indonesia selamat melahirkan bayi di dalam sebuah bas ekspres pada malam Selasa lepas.

Ketika itu, ibu kepada bayi berkenaan, Sumarni Abakar, 32, sedang dalam perjalanan dari Bintulu ke Pontianak menaiki sebuah bas ekspres dari Miri.

Sebaik menyedari kecemasan tersebut, pemandu bas dan pembantunya segera membawa Sumarni ke sebuah klinik luar bandar di Tatau.

Bagaimanapun, belum sempat sampai ke klinik, bayi berkenaan kemudiannya lahir dengan disambut seorang penumpang lain, Latifah Sharudi yang juga warga Indonesia.

Bayi lelaki itu selamat dilahirkan pada jam 7.55 malam.

"Syukur kerana ibu dan bayinya selamat. Ini adalah pengalaman pertama saya berhadapan perkara seperti ini," kata Latifah ketika ditemu bual, semalam.

Kelahiran bayi itu turut disaksikan dengan gembira oleh semua penumpang termasuk pemandu dan pembantu bas ekspres berkenaan.

Malah, ada di kalangan mereka turut memberikan duit sebagai hadiah kepada kelahiran bayi terbabit.

Wanita kekal sasaran penjenayah

Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:58 PM PDT

Oleh Jeremy Lanson //

224 wanita jadi mangsa kes jenayah untuk tujuh bulan pertama tahun ini

KUCHING: Wanita kekal sasaran penjenayah apabila untuk tujuh bulan pertama tahun ini telah mencatat seramai 224 wanita menjadi mangsa kepada beberapa kes jenayah di seluruh negeri.

Timbalan Ketua Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Sarawak ACP Zainuddin Zainal berkata, untuk jenayah seksual sahaja merekodkan 77 laporan kes rogol sementara 39 kes cabul telah diterima sepanjang tempoh tersebut tahun ini.

Justeru, beliau berharap diadakan lebih banyak kempen kesedaran mengenai langkah-langkah keselamatan yang perlu diamalkan kaum wanita khususnya untuk mengelak daripada menjadi mangsa penjenayah.

"Daripada statistik, seramai 224 wanita menjadi mangsa kes jenayah membabitkan 77 kes rogol, cabul (39), samun berkumpulan (44), samun tanpa senjata api (30), ugutan jenayah (86) dan 49 lagi melibatkan kes-kes yang mendatangkan kecederaan.

"Selain itu, untuk tempoh sama juga seramai tujuh wanita di negeri ini telah dibunuh oleh penjenayah.

"Sehubungan itu, kempen seperti ini diharap akan memberi kesedaran kepada wanita tentang cara mengelak daripada terus menjadi mangsa jenayah," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian selepas menyempurnakan Majlis Penutupan Kempen Kesedaran Wanita bertemakan 'Respek Wanita' anjuran Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah, Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontinjen (IPK) Sarawak semalam.

Bercakap mengenai statistik keseluruhan kes jenayah di negeri ini, Zainuddin memberitahu bahawa sehingga semalam jumlah kes masih menunjukkan penurunan berbanding tempoh sama tahun lepas.

"Setakat hari ini, masih lagi menunjukkan penurunan iaitu sebanyak 8.6 peratus atau 527 kes kurang daripada tahun lepas," katanya.

Seramai 150 peserta yang terdiri daripada ahli PERKEP serta AMANITA menyertai kempen tersebut semalam yang dipengerusikan oleh Superintenden Ong Chin Lan dari Bukit Aman, ASP Noor Liyana Shafee dan ASP Tumar Lunya dari IPK Sarawak.

Murid dicabul tukang kebun

Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:55 PM PDT

KUCHING: Seorang wanita tampil membuat laporan polis selepas mendapat tahu anak perempuannya yang berusia 12 tahun telah dicabul oleh tukang kebun sekolah.

Wanita berusia 38 tahun itu baharu mengetahui perkara tersebut selepas dimaklumkan oleh pihak sekolah pada Selasa lepas.

Menurut sumber, insiden dilaporkan berlaku pada Jun lepas iaitu pada waktu rehat apabila suspek dikatakan memanggil mangsa yang belajar dalam darjah enam masuk ke dalam sebuah stor.

"Di situ, suspek dikatakan telah memasukkan jarinya ke dalam kemaluan mangsa selain turut meraba buah dada mangsa dan mengugutnya agar tidak menceritakan perkara tersebut kepada orang lain sebelum membenarkannya keluar dari stor berkenaan," kata sumber.

Mangsa bagaimanapun telah menceritakan perkara tersebut kepada rakannya yang kemudian memaklumkan perkara tersebut kepada pihak sekolah.

Mangsa difahamkan telah dihantar ke hospital untuk pemeriksaan dan kes tersebut masih dalam siasatan pihak polis.