US court sentences man to 70 years jail for killing German exchange student |
- US court sentences man to 70 years jail for killing German exchange student
- Get your act together, Pakatan told
- North Carolina triple murder: Muslims call for calm as students buried
- Ismail Sabri says regrets causing race row, Liow says time to move on
- Greek’s new PM edges closer towards huge bailout deal
- Think City Urban Renewal: Injecting life back into the heart of Kuala Lumpur
| US court sentences man to 70 years jail for killing German exchange student Posted: 12 Feb 2015 05:13 PM PST
District Judge Ed McLean told Markus Kaarma, 30, that he "went hunting" rather than merely protecting his home when he killed Diren Dede last April after the 17-year-old wandered into Kaarma's garage in the small town of Missoula, Montana. "It brings me to the conclusion that you're just not a very nice person," McLean told Kaarma, who was convicted in December of deliberate homicide and will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years. "You're not killing to protect your family... you're angry at the world." On the night of the fatal shooting, Dede and a fellow exchange student from Ecuador were strolling through the neighborhood when the German teen decided to explore Kaarma's open garage, apparently looking for alcohol. After two earlier burglaries, Kaarma had installed motion detectors, which alerted him to the presence of an intruder. He grabbed his shotgun, went outside and fired several times into the dark garage, fatally wounding Dede. Kaarma's attorneys invoked a local law known as the "Castle Doctrine" that allows homeowners to use deadly force to defend themselves and their families from bodily harm or to prevent a violent crime. But a jury convicted the shooter following the prosecution's argument that Kaarma and his girlfriend purposely left the garage open to trap an intruder. "Anxiety doesn't excuse the anguish that you caused," McLean told Kaarma. Kaarma, wearing handcuffs and an orange prison jumpsuit, said he was sorry for Dede's death but defended his actions. "I felt I did what was necessary to protect my family and myself," he insisted in a brief statement. His mother, Chong Oak Kaarma, also took the stand and apologised to Dede's family. "I don't know how to find words to express my sadness," she said. "It's too late," Dede's father Celal replied from the courtroom. The victim's family will file a civil lawsuit against Kaarma to seek damages, attorney Bernhard Docke told journalists. ― AFP  |
| Get your act together, Pakatan told Posted: 12 Feb 2015 05:00 PM PST
The Bersih 2.0 former co-chairman also said the public was fed up with the squabbles between PR partners PAS and DAP over fundamental disagreements such as local elections and hudud. "Pakatan Rakyat has no choice but to unite. It has to unite now for the people. It's something we anticipate and it's something we demand," she at a forum organized by local news portal Malaysiakini titled 'Anwar Imprisoned: the Future of Malaysian Politics.' "Question now is, with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in jail, can Pakatan Rakyat pull their socks up and pull themselves together? I think they can do it," she added. PAS MP Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa echoed Ambiga's sentiment, and urged the pact to admit that its problems especially now that Anwar, who is seen as the uniting factor of the three parties, could no longer lead PR. "Stop saying we (PR) don't have a problem. Yes, I admit, we have a problem but we are working to solve it," he said candidly. "Who will do the job (of leading PR) is not the issue, there's no way they (Anwar's replacement) can be the same (as him). You have to do away with that thinking. But Pakatan Rakyat must stay strong and united," Mujahid added. Ambiga added that Anwar's incarceration will be impetus for his supporters to take action, to the point that Putrajaya will rue his latest imprisonment for sodomy. She added that jailing Anwar made him "far more dangerous" to the ruling government, and made him a beacon for supporters. PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, on the other hand, saw Anwar's conviction as a major setback to the "Reformasi" movement, aimed at removing ruling party Barisan National, similar to when Anwar was first arrested in 1998. "To me, in 2008 (election) with the leadership of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim… the people wanted to see development from both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan National. At first I saw this as a good sign, because we entered into a state of normalcy with two parties, "Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's conviction shows we've turned back the clock to before 2008. We're still having to talk about rights and freedom," Chua said. The Federal Court had on Tuesday upheld the Court of Appeal's 2014 ruling that had reversed Anwar's acquittal of sodomising Saiful, and maintained the sentence of five year's imprisonment. Anwar, 67, will now lose his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat as the law bars anyone fined over RM2,000 or imprisoned more than one year from serving as a lawmaker. The decision also leaves the PR pact without a leader. |
| North Carolina triple murder: Muslims call for calm as students buried Posted: 12 Feb 2015 04:52 PM PST
More than 5,000 people gathered for the funeral of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her 19-year-old sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, who authorities say were killed by a neighbour. The alleged shooter, Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was believed to be strongly opposed to religion, as his Facebook page showed dozens of anti-religious posts, including proclamations denouncing Christianity, Mormonism and Islam. Police said they were investigating the crime as a parking dispute, but victims' families repeated their belief the attack was religiously motivated. "We are definitely certain that our daughters were targeted for their religion," the father of the sisters, Mohammad Abu-Salha, told AFP. "This is not a parking dispute, these children were executed with shots in the back of the heads," he said, surrounded by tearful family members as they prepared for the final funeral prayer. "This has hate crime written all over it and I'm not going to sit down for it," he said later before three caskets. He said his daughter Yusor had complained that Hicks had harassed her, and appeared at her door to complain about a parking space with a gun holstered at his waist. Chapel Hill police Lieutenant Joshua Mecimore said the crime appeared to have been provoked by "an ongoing parking dispute between neighbours," but added all motives were being investigated. Officials said the incident did not appear to be part of a broader anti-Muslim campaign, and District Attorney for Middle North Carolina Ripley Rand said the killing was being treated as an isolated incident. Neighbours recalled Hicks as troublesome, frequently squabbling with nearby residents over parking and seen with his gun in public, according to local media reports. Stoking fear The killings rattled the community, fueling fears among some Muslims in the tight-knit university town. "To be honest, it makes me more scared because I have two babies, so I don't even want to imagine," said Sarah Alhorani, a former student at University of North Carolina where Barakat was a second year dentistry student. "I was scared to walk out my door, but I did and I kept going and I kept my scarf on and you keep moving on," said Alhorani, a friend of all three victims. Some Muslim leaders said the shooting was a reflection of wider anti-Muslim hostility, and warned it could sow fear among Muslim-Americans. "People are very concerned about what happened. They feel that this is a premeditated hate crime," Nihad Awad, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told AFP. But there were calls for calm and leaders urged restraint. "It's time to mourn but it's also time to call for harmony and peace," the head of the Islamic Association in neighbouring Raleigh, Mohamed Elgamal, told AFP. There are some 65,000 Muslims in North Carolina, which has a population of 9.9 million, and the majority live in the Chapel Hill area. The killings sparked outrage among Muslims worldwide, with the Twitter hashtags #ChapelHillShooting and #MuslimLivesMatter trending globally. Mohammad Abu-Salha rejected skewed perceptions of Muslims, and said the slain youngsters and the support they garnered were exemplars of the faith. "This is Islam, it's not what you hear in the media, it's not 'American Sniper,'" he said, referring to a film about a shooter killing Islamists in the Iraq war. 'All lives matter' Meanwhile, relatives and friends honoured Deah, Yusor and Razad yesterday at the traditional Muslim service. Tearful crowds followed the funeral hearse to an outdoor service, where thousands gathered to kneel and pray. "If you loved them, know that we are proud of them that they are Muslim," said Noumann Siddiqui, Islamic Council member. "All of us, Muslims, Christians and Jews alike put love ... in our hearts. All lives matter," he said. The victims' parents wept as their children were buried, the sisters together in one grave next to Deah, while prayers echoed from the crowd. Deah and Yusor were married on December 27, and the new bride was set to attend UNC dentistry school in August. — AFP |
| Ismail Sabri says regrets causing race row, Liow says time to move on Posted: 12 Feb 2015 04:50 PM PST
Following a Cabinet directive to him on Wednesday, the agriculture and agro-based industries minister said his controversial remark was "clearly" directed at traders who refused to lower prices. "My comment that was made privately went 'viral'. I regret the statement has raised racial sentiments. All indignation is regretted," he said in a statement. "The prime minister has urged all quarters to focus on efforts to foster national unity. The Cabinet also agreed that the issue must be ended immediately as Barisan Nasional will keep protecting the interests of all races." He then asked that everyone "move on" and aid in efforts to reduce prices. MCA president and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, whose party has demanded Ismail Sabri apologise and resign, said in a subsequent statement that he respected Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Cabinet's decision for the matter to be ended. "As my colleague, Datuk Seri Ismail has officially issued a statement of regret, and as a member of Cabinet, I take note of his statement of regret and hope that this matter is put to rest and we shall move on," Liow said. Ismail Sabri on February 2, allegedly told Malays using Facebook to boycott Chinese traders in a bid to pressure them to lower their prices, saying: "As long as Malays don't change, the Chinese will take advantage to oppress the Malays." The entry has since been removed as the minister later claimed in a second Facebook post that he meant consumers were the majority and traders the minority, and was directing his remarks at unscrupulous Chinese traders instead of the entire Chinese community. But in a subsequent statement that same day, he resumed the original message that Malay consumers to use their majority power and target the minority Chinese traders who raised prices, while claiming that Chinese consumers stand to benefit from the boycott call. |
| Greek’s new PM edges closer towards huge bailout deal Posted: 12 Feb 2015 04:45 PM PST
Tsipras, the leftist leader elected by austerity-weary Greeks last month, agreed that Athens would start technical talks with eurozone partners today in a bid to find common ground before a last ditch meeting of finance ministers on Monday. But with Greece facing a possible exit from the euro when its €240-billion (RM982.5 billion) EU-IMF bailout expires at the end of February, Tsipras kept talking tough during his first summit with the other 27 European Union leaders. "Greece will not blackmail or be blackmailed," Tsipras said in a press conference after the talks in Brussels. He insisted that Greece would ditch the hated "troika" of creditors—the EU, IMF and European Central Bank—which oversees the bailout programme and carries out inspections to see that Greece is living up to its punishing reform commitments. "Forget the programme, it no longer exists. The troika doesn't exist either," Tsipras said. But he said that he discussed with his counterparts the possibility of a six-month bridging programme to give Greece time to work on a different programme that would be acceptable to its creditors, and "find an end to the crisis." Merkel 'amicable' Germany has been the strongest opponent of Tsipras's plans, adding to anger in Greece against Europe's biggest economy, which many in Athens blame for imposing years of austerity since the country's first bailout in 2010. But Merkel suggested a "compromise" was possible and spoke of a "friendly" encounter with Tsipras in Brussels, during which they shook hands in front of the cameras. "We greeted each other amicably, I congratulated him on his election," said Merkel, fresh off the plane from Minsk where she helped broker a peace deal for the conflict in Ukraine. "On my part I showed my willingness to cooperate. Now we have to see which points we can agree on." The more positive mood saw Greek shares surge over 6.0 per cent while European stock markets rose and the euro was firmer against the dollar. It was a far cry from the previous night in Brussels, when six hours of tense talks between Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and his eurozone counterparts broke down acrimoniously without even agreeing on how to word a joint statement. But yesterday, Tsipras and Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem agreed to renew efforts to "start work on a technical assessment of the common ground between the current programme and the Greek government's plans," a step that had nearly been agreed on Wednesday. 'Optimistic' Europeans Under the Greek proposals, Athens would stick to 70 per cent of the programme but it would overhaul the remaining 30 per cent which it sees as damaging to growth and toxic on issues including the new government's plans to raise the minimum wage. Athens also wants a bridging loan until September to buy time to hammer out a new reform and bailout package, and to offer debt swaps based on economic performance as the Greek economy moves out of recession. Other European leaders said they were hopeful of a deal before Monday, likely the last chance for an agreement if it is to have time to be passed by eurozone parliaments. "It's my understanding that the discussions between Tsipras and Dijsselbloem were quite constructive and good," Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, usually a strong advocate for austerity, told AFP. "At the end of the day, no one should underestimate the capacity of the Eurogroup meeting to find a solution and I'm carefully optimistic that something will come out over the weekend." Grumbling continued however over the collapse of Wednesday's talks, with European sources telling AFP there had originally been an agreement on a joint statement with the other ministers, but that it was torpedoed by Tsipras after his finance minister spent 30 minutes on the phone with him to confirm. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had already left on the understanding the statement had been approved, they said. Greek sources denied this account and said Germany had tried to insert new wording. — AFP |
| Think City Urban Renewal: Injecting life back into the heart of Kuala Lumpur Posted: 12 Feb 2015 04:44 PM PST
Traditional trades such as florists, cloth merchants, clothing stores, markets and coffee shops continue can be found in this busy bustling party of Kuala Lumpur. This part of the district, better known as the old town, is also the traditional core of the city where Kuala Lumpur was founded at the fork of the Klang and Gombak River. This district is where the former colonial administrative centre is located and right in its heart, is the Dataran Merdeka where the nation's independence was declared in 1957. As the birthplace of the nation's capital, the area is also easily identifiable by its distinct air of a rich past through its built heritage and traditional trades. There is a small Chinatown along with a small Little India along its narrow streets where businesses continue to thrive. Though not exactly derelict, the heart of Kuala Lumpur has long become a section of the city that many have "forgotten" except for tourists hunting for a good bargain or budget lodgings. It is in need of a new breath of life, to add more fun and exciting events to it and perhaps to give it a facelift. Urban Renewal in KL What it needs are placemaking programmes that stakeholders, or even interested outsiders, can take up to turn the district around and make it theirs, said Think City's chief executive officer Hamdan Abdul Majeed. Think City is Khazanah Nasional's wholly owned subsidiary that has proven its expertise in urban renewal through its various programmes, including a grant programme, to revive George Town in Penang within a four-year period.
Last December, Think City signed a memorandum with the Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL) that kick-started its three-year rejuvenation programme for the district. Hamdan said some of Think City's activities have already started late last year first by supporting the Art in The Park festival at the Perdana Botanical Garden, the launch of KUL Stories and also a placemaking workshop. Perhaps what drew the most attention of the start of Think City's presence in KL was the pop-up garden that appeared in between two DBKL buildings last month. Hamdan said the pop-up garden was a joint effort with DBKL as a demonstrative space project with the message that any public space can be transformed. KUL Stories is a series of talks where invited guests will talk about local icons from KL, the people, the culture, the historical importance of the district and the places to note. It is similar to the Penang Stories series of talks in George Town and in Butterworth, there is also Butterworth Stories. Think City has already launched its baseline study of the whole district under the programme, which is a 1km radius from the Masjid Jamek. "We chose this 1km radius because it is the very heart of the old town which is a very fitting spot to start and this is the part we want to revive first before we look elsewhere," Hamdan said. After the baseline study is completed, real work in terms of concrete programmes and events can be planned out. Programme director Lee Jia Ping said the whole project currently is still in its infancy even as Think City weighs the applications for its RM1 million grant set aside for the project. Khazanah Nasional, through its foundation Yayasan Hasanah, had allocated RM30 million to Think City to rejuvenate Butterworth and Kuala Lumpur.
The application for the grant closed on January 31 and Think City will reveal the list of successful applicants by April. "We have received quite a few enquiries for the grant and applications but what we are really looking for are stakeholders interested in community building, restoration, cultural mapping and whatever projects that could improve the city," Lee said. DBKL will also come in to improve public spaces and together with Think City, look into issues in the district such as the urban poor, the upgrading of the parks and programmes to rope the community in. "Similar to many of our projects and our successful George Town Grants Programme, what we will be doing in the next three years here is to get the community involved, to get them to take charge of their own spaces and to spur a renewal from the community itself," Hamdan said. It is still early days so Think City's presence in the old town is yet to be felt but Hamdan said once the grants are disbursed and projects are underway, possibly after the middle of this year, things will start happening fast. "What we hope is to be able to show something by the end of a three-year period and after that, we may look at another city to revive," he said. |
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