Sofia Vergara, Joe Manganiello make wedding, baby plans (VIDEO)

Sofia Vergara, Joe Manganiello make wedding, baby plans (VIDEO)
Informal spokesman for the hacker group Anonymous jailed
Cover Media Video: Sofía Vergara and hubby Joe Manganiello planning surrogate baby?
After the floods: Where to put the money? — Koon Yew Yin
Japanese Hostages: Islamic State to make statement soon, claims media
Candid and courageous: Obama pays tribute to King Abdullah

Posted: 22 Jan 2015 04:53 PM PST

NEW YORK, Jan 23 — Colombian babe Sofía Vergara and her new fiance Joe Manganiello are apparently planning on having a child together — via surrogate. An inside source claims they "hope to have a baby on the way by the time they walk down the aisle later this year". — Cover MediaThe Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Chairman Bruce Rosenblum speaks as actress Sofia Vergara, from 'Modern Family,' slowly spins on a turntable during the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards August 25, 2014. — Reuters pic

Informal spokesman for the hacker group Anonymous jailed

Posted: 22 Jan 2015 04:53 PM PST

Activist hacker group Anonymous is seen through the internet government website of Singapore Prime Minister Office circulated online on a smartphone in Singapore on November 7, 2013. — AFP picWASHINGTON, Jan 23 — A journalist also known as an informal spokesman for the hacker group Anonymous was sentenced to five years in prison today in a case which rallied activists for press freedom, his supporters said.

Barrett Brown, arrested in 2012, was originally charged with collaborating with hackers but later pleaded guilty to lesser charges including accessory to the unauthorised access of a protected computer.

"United States of Injustice: Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in federal prison," said a tweet from the group "Free Barrett Brown" after the sentencing in federal court in Dallas, Texas.

Brown was also ordered to pay US$890,000 (RM3,200,440) in restitution.

Brown, who had written for Vanity Fair, the Huffington Post and other news outlets, became an advocate for Anonymous and was indicted after posting links to data stolen from the security firm Stratfor Global Intelligence in 2011.

Brown's defense was supported by media rights organizations including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, which claimed he was prosecuted for his actions as a journalist.

In his statement written for the hearing, Brown said "the government exposed me to decades of prison time for copying and pasting a link to a publicly available file that other journalists were also linking to without being prosecuted".

Brown and his supporters had asked him to be sentenced to time already served, or 30 months. — AFP

Cover Media Video: Sofía Vergara and hubby Joe Manganiello planning surrogate baby?

Posted: 22 Jan 2015 04:51 PM PST

Duration: 00:47, Published 23 Jan 2015

Colombian babe Sofía Vergara and her new fiance Joe Manganiello are apparently planning on having a child together — via surrogate. An inside source claims they "hope to have a baby on the way by the time they walk down the aisle later this year". — Cover Media

After the floods: Where to put the money? — Koon Yew Yin

Posted: 22 Jan 2015 04:48 PM PST

JANUARY 23 — As expected the massive floods has triggered an equally massive allocation for flood mitigation to the tune of US$893 million (RM3.21 billion) in the revised 2015 budget. I may sound like I am being over-critical but I think it is still necessary to note that this planned expenditure — although welcome — can be seen as too little too late.

If the country had invested in an appropriate program of flood mitigation infrastructure and alternative flood alleviation approaches, the severity of the floods would have been much reduced and we would not have suffered so much. It is estimated that the floods caused RM2.9 billion damage to infrastructure. This does not take into account the loss in private property, vehicles, livestock, farms and belongings. Actually if we put together the total flood bill, I will not be surprised if it exceeds RM10 billion!

Clearly the Government has forgotten the adage "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure" in development planning. Now the country and the taxpayer has to foot the bill again for an incompetent and irresponsible government. And I must add, this labelling covers both the state and federal government authorities, and the political parties running the country and affected states.

Now that the public purse strings on flood mitigation infrastructure are wide open, we can expect that every Ahmad, Wong and Siva (and Charlie and Tanaka) will be putting in their proposals for a piece of the procurement action.

Let me as an old and retired engineer who worked on the Muda Irrigation scheme project with the World Bank in the 1970's and who has no stake in any construction or engineering concern in the country provide the following suggestions to ensure that the country gets full value from the extraordinary flood mitigation expenditure that will be spent in the next few months and years.

A Methodist Crisis Relief Effort volunteer unloads a bag of rice from a lorry. The food aid is to be delivered to a few flood-affected Orang Asli villages in Pahang. — Picture by Choo Choy MayGuidelines to ensure value for national flood mitigation expenditure:

1. According to the PM's speech, preference will be given to local contractors. Yes, but don't forget that there are local contractors and local contractors. Don't let the NEP get in the way of merit and quality.

2. Adopt an open tender system for contracts valued above a certain quantum.

3. Do a rigorous pre-qualification screening of all intending contractors.

4. Ensure that all proposed contracts be accompanied by maintenance systems that will ensure sustainability of the infrastructure.

5. Target areas for flood mitigation using scientific, technical, demographic and socio-economic data.

6. For the medium and long term, set up 2 independent panels working in tandem: one to scrutinize and decide on areas that need priority based on flood risk assessment and socio-economic impact; the second a technical one to decide on type and scale of mitigation infrastructure; cost; etc.

7. Explore cost effective approaches such as removal of sand from silted river mouths which I have advocated and forest preservation as advocated by others

Unfortunately, these guidelines will not be enough to prevent wastage, abuse, mismanagement and corruption. Alternative approaches will also take time to develop and implement.

Proposal for priority flood mitigation

To avoid delay in the selection of target areas for rapid remedial action, as well as to overcome the problem of ensuring effective and easy to monitor use of the emergency money, I propose that the priority in expenditure should be directed at dredging and construction of ancillary flood mitigation infrastructure in Sungei Kelantan.

From the damage reports, it is clear that the part of the country, which has suffered most of all, is Kota Baru and Kelantan. Hence it is a no brainer that the immediate remedial works should focus on that state and that it should become the short-term priority of the national flood mitigation plan and expenditure.

It is also clear to me that one of the major causes of the catastrophic flooding in the state is the accumulation of sand at the mouth of Sungei Kelantan where Kota Baru town is situated next to. The enormous quantity of sand and earth amounting to several hundred millions has blocked the outward flow of rain and floodwaters thus accounting for the severity of the flooding.

But how can this dredging be done in a cost effective way?

The answer lies in a project which I took part about 30 years ago. My company obtained a contract to dredge sand from Sungei Tiram in Johor to be used to create the beach at Sentosa Resort, Singapore. In the process we not only cleared that river and solved its flooding problem but we also generated jobs and income from the revenue received from Singapore. This was a win-win situation for our two nations.

Similarly, I believe that If we sell the sand taken out from Sungei Kelantan to Singapore and other countries we would gain several billion of ringgit to make up for the growing shortfall in government funds. At the same time, if properly planned, the dredging will eliminate our flooding problem.

This win-win situation extends beyond the economic cost benefit analysis and external relations consideration. It will also improve the relationship between the BN federal government and the opposition Pas-held state.

Finally, most important of all, it will focus help on the mostly Bumiputra population of Kelantan which has suffered most from the flooding calamity, and who are in need of immediate relief.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.

Japanese Hostages: Islamic State to make statement soon, claims media

Posted: 22 Jan 2015 04:48 PM PST

A screengrab showing a black-clad jihadist from the Islamic State group demands US$200 million for the lives of freelance journalist Kenji Goto and self-employed contractor Haruna Yukawa. — AFP picTOKYO, Jan 23 — Islamic State will release a statement "soon" on its two Japanese hostages, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said today, citing an unidentified spokesman for the al-Qaeda breakaway group.

The Japanese people are infidels at war with Islamic State, the spokesman said on a call over the Internet, according to NHK.

When asked by NHK about negotiations with the Japan government for the release of the two men, the spokesman refused to answer, saying it wasn't a good question.

The deadline for Japan to respond to Islamic State's demand of a US$200 million (RM719.2 million) ransom is fast approaching, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga saying Japan considers it to be today at 2:50pm.

Suga said yesterday he wasn't aware of any contact from the group.

A masked militant threatened in a video message Tuesday to kill the men within 72 hours unless Japan pays the ransom, the same amount that Abe pledged in aid this week to nations fighting Islamic State.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told UK Prime Minister David Cameron by phone yesterday that he stood by his country's commitment not to pay ransoms, according to Cameron's spokeswoman Helen Bower.

Group of Eight leaders pledged in 2013 not to pay terrorists to free hostages. — Bloomberg

Candid and courageous: Obama pays tribute to King Abdullah

Posted: 22 Jan 2015 04:44 PM PST

Obama today paid tribute to late Saudi King Abdullah as a bold leader. — AFP picWASHINGTON, Jan 23 — US President Barack Obama today paid tribute to late Saudi King Abdullah as a bold leader who took courageous steps to pursue peace in the Middle East and a valued friend.

"As a leader, he was always candid and had the courage of his convictions," Obama said in a written statement, describing his "genuine and warm friendship" with the king. — AFP