Bekas mufti kenalkan Islam, Siti Kasim kecewa Juanda masuk politik |
- Bekas mufti kenalkan Islam, Siti Kasim kecewa Juanda masuk politik
- Lady Gaga to headline Super Bowl 2017’s halftime show
- The Xi Jinping boost: From British beer to Russian ice cream
- France fines top model agencies for price fixing
- Johnny Depp joins Judi Dench in ‘Murder on the Orient Express’
- Spieth predicts victory while McIlroy eyes key Ryder Cup win
| Bekas mufti kenalkan Islam, Siti Kasim kecewa Juanda masuk politik Posted: 29 Sep 2016 06:59 PM PDT
Peguam itu berkata Juanda antara ulama yang berjaya mengubah pandangannya terhadap agama dan membuatnya lebih berminat mendalami al-Quran. "Saya jumpa Juanda di sebuah forum selepas saya pulang ke Malaysia. Saya dapati beliau berjaya mengungkapkan keindahan Islam dengan cukup baik sekali. "Ia menjadi permulaan kepada saya untuk membaca, memahami dan mengkaji Quran. "Beliau kata pada saya, 'Islam sebenarnya sangat mudah; ia mengenai perkara-perkara yang munasabah. Benda yang salah tetap salah.' "Saya tanya betul ke doktor? Dia kata 'ya, Islam tidak begitu sukar kerana Tuhan beri akal untuk kita memahaminya'," kata Siti, 53, dalam satu wawancara baru-baru ini.
Bertanding di kerusi Jemoreng, Juanda dipilih sebagai wakil rakyat apabila menewaskan calon Amanah dan Bebas dengan majoriti 3,789 undi. Bekas sarjana tamu Pusat Pengajian Islam Universiti Oxford ini masih aktif menyampaikan kuliah agama di masjid dan surau selain memenuhi kehendak masyarakat setempat. Bercakap kepada ProjekMMO, Siti berkata namun Juanda kini tidak lagi seperti dahulu apabila pandangannya berbeza selepas menyertai politik. "Pada masa dulu saya sangat menghormatinya sebagai seorang mufti tetapi sesudah itu saya melahirkan kekesalan dengan pandangan Juanda. "Beliau sudah berubah. Beliau antara orang yang berjaya membawa saya kembali memahami Islam. "Saya selalu percaya Tuhan akan beri kita cahaya dan pada masa itu pemikiran saya berjaya diubahkan," katanya, yang lantang menolak pelaksanaan hudud.
Katanya, walaupun pandangan Asri mungkin tidak digemari pihak tertentu tetapi tiada siapa yang boleh menyanggah ketinggian ilmu dimiliki ulama itu. "Saya tidak fikir Asri seorang yang liberal ataupun tradisional. Saya percaya beliau cuba berlaku jujur dengan Islam sebenar. "Sesetengah pandangannya juga saya tidak setuju bila membicarakan isu wanita. Tetapi beliau kini satu-satunya yang berani bercakap berbeza daripada yang lain. "Beliau berpengetahuan tetapi masih dikecam oleh orang Islam sendiri apabila bercakap bertentangan daripada ustaz lain. "Dia mufti tetapi orang Islam masih hentam dia. Apatah lagi orang macam saya?" soal aktivis isu Orang Asli ini. Siti mendapat perhatian selepas menunjukkan jari tengah kepada hadirin yang mengganggu soalannya dalam forum isu memperkasa mahkamah syariah awal bulan ini.  |
| Lady Gaga to headline Super Bowl 2017’s halftime show Posted: 29 Sep 2016 06:54 PM PDT
"The rumours are true. This year the SUPER BOWL goes GAGA!" the musician said on Twitter. The NFL retweeted the message, adding "Can't wait. Let's do this!" Super Bowl LI is slated to be held in Houston, Texas on February 5. The NFL said this would be the second appearance for Lady Gaga on the Super Bowl stage, opening last February's game with a performance of the national anthem. The Super Bowl is the most-watched event on US television drawing more than 100 million viewers and the most expensive TV program for advertisers, who pay millions to secure 30-second commercial spots. Last year's half time show featured Beyonce, Coldplay and Bruno Mars who performed a mélange of some of the artists' greatest hits. Other past performers included Michael Jackson, Madonna and The Black Eyed Peas. Lady Gaga, known for frequent creative self-reinventions, is a six-time Grammy Award winner and has also won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award. — Reuters |
| The Xi Jinping boost: From British beer to Russian ice cream Posted: 29 Sep 2016 06:54 PM PDT
The latest indicator of the Xi factor: A surge in purchases of Russian ice creams after President Vladamir Putin brought some as a gift for Xi at the G-20 summit in Hangzhou earlier this month. Sales jumped after the news, the Chengdu Economic Daily reported Tuesday. "Chinese tend to follow the trend, to jump on the bandwagon," said Beijinger Wu Ge, 63. "Throughout history Chinese people have looked up to their great leaders, and that's how it is with Xi, especially among young people." Wu stood yesterday outside the Qing Feng Steamed Dumpling Shop near Beijing's Financial Street, a restaurant that was an early indicator for how Xi could boost sales not long after he took office. More than three years after Xi's surprise visit to the restaurant chain to eat a set meal of dumplings, vegetables and stir fried pig liver and intestines — now known as "The Chairman's Set" — business there is still booming. A queue of more than 30 people backed up at the counter yesterday while outside a group of 27 from Shenzhen-based fresh fruit supplier Shenzhen Lohas World Co posed for a photograph after a meeting nearby. Wang Qing, 58, visiting with her husband from Yantai in Shandong province on the east coast, sat with him at Xi's table, eating the chairman's set meal. "My husband has been here several times before and I've always wanted to come," she said. "I told my husband that when I visit Beijing with him I must come here." After Xi visited a British pub with former Prime Minister David Cameron last year, sales of British beer surged in Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency reported in October. A Beijing-based importer of Britain's Greene King IPA beer saw the company planning to increase imports from 6,000 bottles a month to 80,000, the report said. Xi's also impacting outbound tourism. Following his visit to New Zealand in November 2014 and the airing of a popular reality TV show in China featured New Zealand that year, Chinese visitor numbers leaped more than 34 per cent in 2015 to almost 356,000. "Both events resulted in a significant spike in online searches for keywords such as 'New Zealand,' 'New Zealand tourism' and 'New Zealand visa' as eager Chinese citizens rushed online to learn more," Zhu Shing, an analyst at Auckland-based Milford Asset Management, said in a January report. — Bloomberg |
| France fines top model agencies for price fixing Posted: 29 Sep 2016 06:50 PM PDT
Elite, IMG and Next — who have some of the biggest catwalk stars including Gigi Hadid, Kate Moss and Karlie Kloss on their books — actively "distorted the basis for commercial negotiations and created obstacles to competition to the detriment of their clients", the French competition watchdog said. The swingeing fines, coming in the middle of Paris fashion week, hit almost every agency involved in the French market. Almost 40 agencies in total were fined, with the heaviest sanction of €600,000 falling on the Marilyn Agency which represents Claudia Schiffer. Authorities also accused the modelling agencies' French union, the Synam, of drawing up and effectively enforcing its pricing guides for photo shoots, media campaigns and fashion shows "with little or no room for negotiation". It also fined the organisation €50,000. The watchdog said that for a decade until 2010 Syam "was ambiguous as to the 'official' nature of these pricing schedules, which not only covered minimum salary, but also established the total price that clients were invoiced for modelling services. "Prices not only included the model's remuneration, but also the agency's margin," its statement added. Agreed prices It also accused the agencies of holding meetings where they would discuss "the drawing up, distribution and application of the union pricing schedules". They also agreed on a ban on making public their own pricing schedules, it said. The deal helped support price fixing, the watchdog added, "as demonstrated by statements made by several of the agencies: 'We charge the rates that everyone charges, namely the rates distributed by the Synam.'" At the end of the period the watchdog investigated, the worldwide turnover of the agencies involved was some €150 millions, the almost 100-page report concluded. According to its findings, in 2015 the minimum rate to hire models for fashion shows and publicity campaigns was €91.80 for a rookie and €176.90 for a more experienced model. The model had to be paid at least 64 per cent of the price paid to the agency by the client, it said. Neither SYNAM nor several of the agencies mentioned in the report were willing to comment when contacted by AFP. — AFP |
| Johnny Depp joins Judi Dench in ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ Posted: 29 Sep 2016 06:44 PM PDT
The film, which also has Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr attached, follows the original novel plot and centres on a special detective — Hercule Poirot (Branagh) — who boards a train from Jerusalem to Europe, where a murder is committed in the car next to his during a snowstorm, and he begins to investigate the mystery. The movie, which is also to be helmed and produced by Branagh, in addition to Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg, Mark Gordon, Aditya Sood and Michael Schaefer, also has James Prichard, the author's great grandson and chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd, and Hilary Strong, CEO at Agatha Christie Ltd, attached to executive produce, with a slated release date of November 22, 2017. Depp most recently starred in Black Mass and Alice Through the Looking Glass.— AFP-Relaxnews |
| Spieth predicts victory while McIlroy eyes key Ryder Cup win Posted: 29 Sep 2016 06:42 PM PDT
The 41st biennial US-Europe team golf showdown begins today at Hazeltine with four morning alternate shot foursomes matches, with Spieth and Reed out first for the Americans. "We believe in ourselves and we will go out there and get our job done and put a point on the board for the United States," Spieth said. "So we have got a huge match ahead of us." Olympic champion Rose of England and British Open champion Stenson of Sweden went 3-0 in 2014 to spark Europe's third victory in a row, sixth in seven tries and eighth in the past 10 Cups. "We've got a great pairing and they put a lot of faith in Jordan and Patrick," Rose said. "They are incredibly tenacious competitors. It's going to be one of our strongest pairings versus one of theirs." Rose has the first tension-packed shot off the first tee. "It's a moment to try and enjoy the best you can," Rose said. "It's clearly nerve-wracking and it's not a moment you can really prepare for." Reed and Spieth went unbeaten together in 2014 Cup debuts and sparked each other. "I'm pumped. It's just so exciting," Reed said. "I have so much adrenaline going through myself right now I just can't wait to get started." McIlroy, coming off a Tour Championship victory and US PGA playoff crown, joins handpicked partner Andy Sullivan, a Cup newcomer from England, against US favourites Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler. "You've got the two most popular Americans out there. Tough match," McIlroy said. "It's an important match. That match is worth nearly more than one point for Europe, because if we can beat their two most popular players, that's an early blow for them. "If we play the way we've been playing, stick to our game plan and execute the way we know we can, that will be huge." Sullivan doesn't lack for confidence, saying, "When you've got someone like Rory McIlroy standing next to you, you feel like $1 million." Fowler says his and Mickelson's games mesh, despite only one Cup match together. "We bring out a really good energy in each other," Fowler said. "We tend to bring out each other's best more times than not. That's what you want, especially in alternate shot." Other matches send Americans Zach Johnson and Jimmy Walker against Spain's Sergio Garcia and Germany's Martin Kaymer while Americans Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar meet England's Lee Westwood, making his 10th Cup start, and Belgian Thomas Pieters, making his first. It evoked a 2012 four-ball pairing where Westwood and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts beat Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker 1 up. "I like playing with these Belgians that shoot 10-under," Westwood said. "No pressure." Willett sidelined at start Among those sitting out the first session is Masters champion Danny Willett, the Cup newcomer from England whose brother wrote an internet article insulting US fans. "Danny is fine," Europe captain Darren Clarke said. "I have no worries about Danny whatsoever, mentally or otherwise. The incident that happened has created a bit of a furor, but Danny is a great golfer and he's ready to play." Clarke even tipped two bits of information on his pairings — that Willett will play in Friday afternoon four-ball and all six of his newcomers, four of whom are idle for the first session, will play before Sunday's 12 concluding singles matches. "Whatever order that is going to take, we shall see. The scoring and how the match is going will dictate what way we think," said Clarke. ""The guys are all disappointed they are not playing but there's a reason behind it. I have a plan that I'm going to try and execute this week." — AFP |
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