PM Najib arrives in London for three-day working visit |
- PM Najib arrives in London for three-day working visit
- Cuban transactions approved for US MasterCards
- Drinking coffee can help prevent cancer
- Bradley Cooper brings Broadway’s ‘Elephant Man’ to London
- US: Islamic State jihadists only lost 1pc of captured territory in Iraq
- Prostitute-turned-novelist Virginie Despentes wins new French book award
| PM Najib arrives in London for three-day working visit Posted: 23 Jan 2015 04:56 PM PST
Malaysian High Commissioner to United Kingdom Datuk Ahmad Rashidi Hazizi said the prime minister was scheduled to arrive here at about 3am Saturday (11am Saturday in Malaysia). Najib will arrive from Riyadh after attending the funeral of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia who passed away yesterday. During Najib's visit to BPS project today, he would monitor the progress of the project at the 39-acre site especially on plans to develop the Malaysia Square, said Ahmad Rashidi. The design for the square centres on a two-level urban canyon with integrated bridges and stairways that are inspired by Malaysia's landscape and geology where the spaces will be clad with limestone, granite, marble, sandstone, gravel and dolomite striations that will lead people through the square. A fountain planned for the central amphitheatre is set to be designed in the shape of hibiscus ― Malaysia's national flower. Apart from offering a space for play, surrounded by water, each of the five "petals" represents one principle each from the Rukunegara, Malaysia's founding philosophy which forms the bedrock of national unity in its multicultural society. Malaysia Square at the BPS will link southern entrance of the restored Power Station and the top of the new Electric Boulevard high street. The Malaysian consortium for the entire BPS's development comprises SP Setia Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) with SP Setia and Sime Darby each holding 40 per cent stake while EPF holds the rest. The consortium bought the property of the former coal-fired power station in 2012 for £400 million. The £8 billion project, Malaysia's biggest property venture oversea, spans seven phases until 2024 and will consist of nearly 4,000 homes, over 250 shops, cafes and restaurants, hotels and office space. The first phase, costing £790 million, was launched in 2012 comprising more than 800 residential units and due for completion by middle of next year. The second phase will commence March this year including restoration of the power station, residential units and commercial office spaces. The third phase comprises 1,200 residential units designed by two world's renowned architects, retail space and restaurants and was launched late last year. BPS has secured funding arrangement, totalling £1.35 billion, for both Phase 2 and Phase 3 projects. Ahmad Rashidi said the BPS was very significant as it involved Malaysian companies as well as symbolizing the good relationship between the two governments as Malaysia had won the bid for the project as well as support from the British government in building the northern subway line to facilitate the project. On Monday, Najib will walk down memory lane when he visits his former college ― Malvern College at Worcestershire ― to officiate the Razak Science Centre there. The centre consists of 18 state-of-the-art laboratories, including a showcase laboratory and extra prep rooms. "The centre is funded by a Malaysian who just wanted to be known as 'seorang hamba Allah'," said Ahmad Rashidi adding that the person also refused to disclose the amount of the fund. Najib attended the college from 1968 until 1971. Datuk Johari, Najib's younger brother also attended the college in the late 60s and early 70s. The college is a co-educational boarding and day school founded in 1865, one of the UK's leading independent schools. "The college was so proud of the prime minister who was their former student and had given the honour for him to officiate the centre which was named after him (in British culture, Najib is known as Mr Razak then)," said Ahmad Rashidi. ― Bernama  |
| Cuban transactions approved for US MasterCards Posted: 23 Jan 2015 04:50 PM PST
The United States announced sweeping new rules this month that will significantly ease sanctions on Cuba, opening up the communist-ruled island to expanded US travel, trade and financial activities. MasterCard was removing the block following guidance from the US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the company said in a post on its website. Transactions using its cards will, however, stay blocked in North Korea, Iran, Sudan and Syria, the company said in an e-mail to Reuters. The Purchase, New York-based company said it was the first to unblock transactions in Cuba. American Express Co said it was reviewing the OFAC guideline, while Visa Inc was not immediately available to discuss its plans. "We are evaluating the OFAC guidelines that came out late last week to better understand what is permissible and how we would operate if we choose to do so," American Express said in an e-mail. MasterCard shares were trading flat at US$84.49 (RM304.29) in afternoon trading on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. — Reuters |
| Drinking coffee can help prevent cancer Posted: 23 Jan 2015 04:47 PM PST
Spring-boarding on evidence that suggests coffee could protect against non-melanoma skin cancers, the researchers set out to learn whether it has this effect against melanoma. They worked with a database of 447,357 non-Hispanic white subjects who in 1995 and 1996 responded to a questionnaire about their diet and provided follow-up information 10 years later, on average. At the start, all subjects were cancer-free and the research team determined their frequency of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays based on where they lived and adjusted the data accordingly. Subjects were also assessed for body mass index (BMI), age, sex, alcohol intake, smoking history and the amount of exercise they got and the study data was, again, adjusted. High coffee consumption — at least four cups per day of caffeinated coffee, not decaf — was associated with a 20 per cent reduction in risk of malignant melanoma. The more coffee subjects drank — starting at one cup a day until four or more — the less at risk they appeared to be for malignant melanoma. It should be noted that the protective effect was observed only against malignant melanoma and not against melanoma in-situ and the researchers say their results are preliminary and may not apply to all populations. The study, which researchers say merits further research, was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Bradley Cooper brings Broadway’s ‘Elephant Man’ to London Posted: 23 Jan 2015 04:44 PM PST
Cooper, 40, has won rave reviews for his portrayal of John Merrick, a sideshow attraction because of his grotesque appearance, in the revival of the Bernard Pomerance play that opened on Broadway late last year for a limited run. The play will transfer to London's Theatre Royal Haymarket on May 9 and run through Aug. 8. "Never did we think we would have the privilege to perform this show on Broadway, let alone in London," Cooper said in a statement. Co-stars Alessandro Nivola, who plays the surgeon who rescues and befriends Merrick, and Patricia Clarkson, the English actress who introduces him to upper class society, will join Cooper in London. Cooper, nominated for a best actor Academy Award for his role as Navy SEAL sharpshooter Chris Kyle in "American Sniper," does not use prosthetics. He contorts his face and body to convey the physical deformities of Merrick in a dazzling performance that Variety described as "stunning, deeply felt and very moving." The Broadway production will close on February 21. — Reuters |
| US: Islamic State jihadists only lost 1pc of captured territory in Iraq Posted: 23 Jan 2015 04:43 PM PST
Kurdish peshmerga forces and Iraqi government troops have retaken 700 square kilometres (270 square miles) of ground mostly in northern Iraq, but the IS group still holds 55,000 square kilometres, spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters. That amounts to roughly one per cent of IS-held territory changing hands since the US launched air raids in Iraq on August 8. Kirby acknowledged that not much ground had been gained back so far but said that the air strikes had halted the momentum of the jihadists and bought time for the training of Baghdad government forces. "I think we all recognize that it's a small percentage of the total right now. But we're only six, seven months into this thing, too," he said. The US military has made clear the campaign against IS "is going to take time, to uproot these guys and to really get at them," he said. The Pentagon provided the figures after announcing recently that Iraqi and Kurdish troops had regained 700 square kilometres, without explaining what percentage that represented of all territory held by the IS militants. By comparison, the Iraqi government held about 77,000 square kilometres and the Kurdish forces controlled roughly 56,000 square kilometres, he said. Those numbers did not represent the entire territory of Iraq, but only populated, "relevant" areas, according to Kirby. US commanders have said that the Iraqi army needed to be reorganized and armed before staging a major counter-offensive to roll back the IS from large swathes of territory it seized last year. The officer overseeing the US-led campaign against the IS group, General Lloyd Austin, head of Central Command, told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that Iraqi forces would be ready to launch a counter-offensive to recapture the northern city of Mosul by the summer. Since August 8, there have been nearly 2,000 air strikes in the fight against IS in Iraq and Syria, with American warplanes carrying out more than 1,600 of those raids, defence officials said. — AFP |
| Prostitute-turned-novelist Virginie Despentes wins new French book award Posted: 23 Jan 2015 04:40 PM PST
A jury of French writers and English and American literary agents voted to give the first Anais Nin Prize to Despentes for her latest novel, Vernon Subutex 1, a fast-paced thriller set in a typically grimy underworld. The award is named after France's famed mid-twentieth-century writer Anais Nin who was one of the few to write in both English and French and be translated in both directions. Despentes, 45, is well-known in France for a controversial and confrontational series of books and films informed by her past work in a massage parlour in the southern city of Lyons. Among the film adaptations are "Pretty Things" starring Marion Cotillard and feminist revenge flick "Rape Me". Vernon Subutex 1 treads familiar territory for Despentes, following a former record-store owner who becomes destitute and finds himself homeless and drifting among a motley crew of ex-porn stars, coked-up filmmakers and neo-Nazis. The prize "rewards a singular voice and sensibility, an originality of imagination and audacity in the face of the moral order," the organisers said in a statement. As part of the award, which aims to put the spotlight on Francophone writers yet to make a splash in the huge English-language market, Vernon Subutex 1 will be translated into English. ― AFP-Relaxnews |
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