WikiSabah

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Rumours and lies again about Lajim rejoining Umno

Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah president Lajim Ukin is staying put, the party's information chief said in a statement to counter rumours
There is no truth to rumours that Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (Harapan) president Lajim Ukin is planning to rejoin Sabah Umno, the Borneo Post reported.

Harapan information chief Karim Adam denied the rumours that had been circulating, saying it was spread by irresponsible quarters.

“The speculation is not new, as it has been around ever since Lajim formed Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah almost a year ago.

Anti-terror chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay says many other Malaysians are still fighting Philippine forces in Marawi City

KOTA KINABALU - The country’s most wanted militant Dr Mahmud Ahmad is among several Malaysians believed to be still fighting government forces in Marawi city in southern Philippines, according to Bukit Aman’s counter-terrorism chief.

“We believe Dr Mahmud is still in Marawi City,” Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, the Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division principal assistant director, told FMT today.

Ex-IGP to give a talk on 'Malaysia in the future'

KOTA KINABALU - A public talk on “Malaysia in The Future” by a former Inspector General of Police of Malaysia Tan Sri Rahim Noor will be held at Ming Garden Hotel, Kota Kinabalu on 19th of September 2027, at 7.30 pm-with limited capacity of 200 people (Admission is FREE).

The talk is organised by PIPPA--Progressive Institute of Public Policy Analysis Sabah, a think tank established in 2007.

Over the years PIPPA has been organising talks and forums involving both local and overseas speakers.

Philippine security forces have rescued a senior Catholic priest held for nearly four months by Muslim militants besieging the southern city of Marawi.

Father Teresito "Chito" Soganub, vicar-general of Marawi, was found abandoned by his captors at around 11pm on Saturday near a mosque, hours after a deadly battle that saw the military seizing the militants’ control centre, the government’s chief peace negotiator Jesus Dureza said in a Facebook post yesterday.

Rear-Admiral Rene Medina, commander of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao, told The Philippine Daily Inquirer that Father Soganub escaped with another hostage, Mr Lordvin Ocopio, a teacher, during the assault.

Seven picked up in relation to Keramat tahfiz school fire

KUALA LUMPUR - Police are believed to have picked up more people in connection with Thursday's tahfiz school fire that killed 23 in Kampung Datuk Keramat here.

Sources told the New Straits Times that investigators have detained at least seven people.

Those arrested were said to be between the ages of 15 and 22, and among them, were students of the school located in Jalan Keramat Hujung.

Fine line between ‘joined’ and ‘formed’

Some Malaysians still clueless over distinctions in Malaysia Agreement 1963

“I AM a Malaysian! Why do I need to go through Immigration to get a social visit pass to enter Sabah?” asked an indignant Ipoh-born friend, adding, “I don’t need such a document when I enter Selangor from Perak.”

He was planning to fly from KL International Airport to Kota Kinabalu International Airport to visit my home state for the first time.

A public talk on “Malaysia in The Future” by a former Inspector General of Police of Malaysia Tan Sri Rahim Noor will be held at Ming Garden Hotel, Kota Kinabalu on 19th of September 2027, at 7.30 pm-with limited capacity of 200 people.

The talk is organised by PIPPA--Progressive Institute of Public Policy Analysis Sabah, a think tank established in 2007.

Over the years PIPPA has been organising talks and forums involving both local and overseas speakers.

PIPPA has also been participating as invited guests of other institutes such as the Perak Academy in Ipoh and the Yussof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

Maute ratholes, trenches revealed as troops gain ground in Marawi

MARAWI CITY, Philippines – A network of ratholes and trenches that Maute fighters dug in the battle area emerged as troops pushed back the local terrorist groups linked with Islamic State (ISIS) and occupied their former strongholds.
The military allowed reporters to the heart of the battle area on Wednesday, September 13, to see how the war was fought on the ground. It was the 4th month of the war.

In one area, ratholes that can fit 5 people cut through adjacent buildings.

MARAWI CITY- Most weapons recovered from slain militants belonging to the Maute group and its allies or from areas they had vacated in this Lanao del Sur provincial capital bore marks which indicated that these came from the government, a military spokesperson said.

“It only meant that somebody from the government sold it to them,” said Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, spokesperson for the Joint Task Force Marawi.

Petinglay, however, did not say how many of these recovered firearms had been confirmed to have come from the government armory.

KOTA KINABALU - PM Najib’s visit to Sabah on the eve of Malaysia’s 54th anniversary would be meaningful ONLY if he could make actionable commitments to fulfil Sabah’s Special Rights and status as an equal partner in the Federation, urged Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan who is the Assemblyman for Bingkor cum President of Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR).

Such actionable commitment, Jeffrey said, would go a long way to restore confidence in the Borneo States.

Otherwise, what is there to celebrate on Malaysia Day the following day, 16th September?

For the past 54 years, since their respective Independences and since the formation of Malaysia, the Borneo States, particularly Sabah, have suffered many losses and negative experiences including:-

-     the loss of Sabah’s political autonomy

-     the loss of revenues and financial autonomy

-     the loss of ownership of our oil and gas resources

-     and the loss of business and employment opportunities for our youths who now forced to flock to Malaya and Singapore for employment and lately to Australia to pluck fruits.

(CNN)In a major show of defiance to the international community, North Korea fired a ballistic missile over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido Friday.

KOTA KINABALU - Five members of opposition Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) have filed a suit seeking to declare that the Malaysian Government committed a breach of the Malaysia Agreement when it failed to restrain Singapore leaving the federation two years later in 1965.

The first, second, third, fourth and fifth plaintiff, Lucy Liskin Batak, 59, Jeffrey Kumin @ John, 49, Homer D Lubaton, 63, Alfred Raphael, 25, and Marcel Jude A/L MS Joseph, 56, respectively, are also seeking a declaration that the Malaysia Agreement is valid and lawful notwithstanding that the Republic of Singapore seceded from the Federation of Malaysia without the consent and approval of the State of Sabah and the State of Sarawak.

The first plaintiff is the Star Wanita vice chief as well as a Supreme Council member of a political association known as Gabungan Wanita, the second plaintiff is Star State vice chairman cum Information Chief as well as Chairman of Star Inanam, while the third, fourth and fifth Plaintiff are members of Star.

Perception of Rohingya as persecuted is ‘superficial’, says Masing

The 'ebb and flow' between persecutor and persecuted in Myanmar's Rakhine state depends on who is in power, says Sarawak deputy chief minister James Masing

Myanmar alone can’t do anything to stop the plight faced by the Rohingya community there, as it is a problem that has gone on for centuries, says Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister James Masing.

He also said that the current perception that the Rohingyas were the persecuted group is “superficial”.

SEOUL/JAPAN (Reuters) - A North Korean state agency threatened on Thursday to use nuclear weapons to "sink" Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution and sanctions over its latest nuclear test.

Pyongyang's Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which handles the North's external ties and propaganda, also called for the breakup of the Security Council, which it called "a tool of evil" made up of "money-bribed" countries that move at the order of the United States.

"The four islands of the archipelago should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche. Japan is no longer needed to exist near us," the committee said in a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency.

Abduction in Sabah waters still a concerning issue

KOTA KINABALU - The abduction of crew members from ships in the Sulu-Celebes Sea and waters off eastern Sabah is still a concerning issue in the state, despite a decrease in the number of reported cases.

A total of seven incidents (comprising of three actual abductions and four attempts) were reported from January to April 2017.

Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Deputy Director Nicholas Teo G B said that most of the cases in Sabah involved tugboats, something that is uncommon in other areas.

KOTA KINABALU - Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) deputy president Amde Sidek said the Federal Government's idea of allowing the Rohingyas to come into the country is part of a plan to increase the number of "Malays" in the country.

"Anyone could guess the end game. I call this part of the population engineering to increase the number of Malays. The Rohingyas being Muslims could easily meet the criteria to be Malays," he said in a statement.

Take immigrants from Sabah, not Rohingyas, Jeffrey tells KL

KOTA KINABALU - The federal government shouldn’t even consider taking in more Rohingya refugees but should instead decide to take as many as possible the illegal Filipino and Indonesian refugees now inundating Sabah.

This suggestion was made by the president of Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), Datuk Dr. Jeffrey G Kitingan in a statement here in response to the announcement by Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed on Saturday that Malaysia is willing to accept more Rohingya refugees into the country following the increasingly tense situation in Myanmar.

A Modern Tokyo Times report says Malaysia and the OIC are forgetting the elephant in the room: the large number of Muslims being ‘butchered’ by Muslims in Yemen and elsewhere

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia is manipulating language and being hypocritical in its condemnation of the killing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, according to a report in the Modern Tokyo Times.

The e-journal also criticised the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the mass media of hypocrisy for focusing only on the killing of Muslims in Myanmar, and overlooking the killing of Muslims by Muslims themselves in several nations.

The United Nations has imposed a fresh round of sanctions on North Korea after its sixth and largest nuclear test.

The measures restrict oil imports and ban textile exports. The latter is aimed at starving the North of income for its weapons programmes.

The US had originally proposed harsher sanctions including a total ban on oil imports.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is facing heightened threats from foreign infiltration via religion and from the spread of extremism, a top official for religious affairs said on Tuesday, after strict new rules were passed to manage religious practice in the country.

President Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to guard against foreign infiltration through religion and to prevent the spread of "extremist" ideology, while also being tolerant of traditional faiths that he sees as a salve to social ills.

Hurricane Irma was still wreaking havoc in South Carolina late Monday after causing at least 10 deaths in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

A flash flood emergency was issued for Charleston Monday afternoon as Irma, which was downgraded to a tropical storm Monday morning, battered the Southeast with torrential rain and dangerous storm surges.

As of 8 p.m., Irma was about 120 miles south of Atlanta, moving north-northwest at 16 mph with sustained winds of 45 mph.

North Korea threatens 'pain and suffering' ahead of UN sanctions vote

(CNN)The United States will pay a "due price" if harsh sanctions against North Korea are agreed at a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York Monday.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on state media that if the US "does rig up the illegal and unlawful 'resolution'" it would respond in kind.

"The DPRK is ready and willing to use any form of ultimate means," the statement said, referring to the country by its official name the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

PUTRAJAYA - Thousands of parents will now look forward to a Federal Court ruling on whether their stateless children can obtain Malaysian citizenship through a court order.

This follows today’s decision by a three-man bench led by Hasan Lah to allow leave applications by three sets of parents who wanted their appeals to be heard on the position of stateless children.

The fundamental question before the apex court is whether the blood or lineage is a requirement under the Federal Constitution in determining the citizenship of a child.

MARAWI CITY, Philippines – Two soldiers were killed on Sunday, September 10, in close-quarter battles with local terrorist groups in Marawi City, according to Joint Task Force spokesperson Colonel Romeo Brawner.

They were shot while conducting a major operation in the heart of the battle area to clear remaining strongholds of the local terrorist groups. It was Day 111 of the war.

Four others were also wounded in the push to liberate Marawi from terrorist groups linked with international terrorist network Islamic State (ISIS).

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LABUAN - Staunch supporters of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) here want party President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee to continue to lead it. They feel SAPP's mission is not complete yet and there is no suitable leader in sight to pass the baton.

SAPP spread its wings here in 1994 and remained active till 2007. The party's strongholds here were Rancha Rancha and Sungei Keling, which have a predominant Chinese population.

Labuan SAPP has a few hundred members and though being a Sabah-based party, there are still many here remaining loyal to it due to Yong.

Castration as a form of punishment for rapists is one of the proposals up for discussion at a high level meeting involving the Sarawak state government today.

According to the Malay Mail Online, the proposal was made as part of efforts to combat the rising sexual crimes in the state, especially cases involving incest.

The report quoted Sarawak Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women and Family Development Minister Fatimah Abdullah as saying that the proposal would require amendments to the Penal Code which currently does not provide castration as a form of penalty against such offenders.

Category 4 Hurricane Irma bearing down on Florida Keys

Hurricane Irma regained strength as it closed in on the Florida Keys early Sunday and forecasters monitored a crucial shift in its trajectory — just a few more miles to the west — that could keep its ferocious eye off the southwest Florida coast and over warm gulf water.

The hurricane re-strengthened to Category 4 status with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph (210 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Irma was expected to gain a little more strength as it moved through the Straits of Florida and remain a powerful hurricane as it approached Florida.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday rejected a proposal from Omar Maute for the safe exit for their followers in Marawi City exchange for the freedom of the hostages.

The exact number of hostages remaining in the hands of the Maute Group and its allies remained unclear, but Duterte said they could be between 70 and 300.

JUCHITAN, Mexico (Reuters) - Anguished mourners lined the streets of the southern Mexican city devastated by the most powerful earthquake to strike the country in 85 years, coffins raised on their shoulders as they advanced slowly to a crowded cemetery on Saturday.

More than half of the 65 known victims of Thursday night’s 8.1 magnitude quake died in Juchitan, a picturesque, historic city near the coast where more than 5,000 homes were destroyed and many more left without running water or electricity.

Hurricane Irma Sucked The Ocean Away From Beaches In The Bahamas

This natural phenomenon occurs after extremely powerful storms.

KOTA KINABALU - Sabah police have beefed up security ahead of the national-level Malaysia Day celebrations here on Sept 16.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Ramli Din (pic) said sufficient manpower including for traffic control will be deployed to ensure the smooth running of the celebrations which will be held at the Likas Sports Complex.

"The security surveillance does not only cover Likas but also the Eastern Sabah Security Zone.

Mass exodus in Florida as 'lawn mower' Irma approaching

MIAMI - Store owners boarded up their windows and families sandbagged their homes to join a mass exodus as Hurricane Irma churned toward Florida as a maximum-strength storm.

Irma made landfall in Cuba’s Camaguey Archipelago as a Category Five storm Friday after killing at least 19 people and devastating thousands of homes on a string of Caribbean islands.

Recent arrests prevented terror attacks last month and have exposed an Abu Sayyaf presence within Peninsular Malaysia.

HOW did an Abu Sayyaf gunman from Basilan island in southern Philippines end up in the heart of Kuala Lumpur?

Before we go to the how, let’s talk about the who.

The gunman is Abu Asrie.

The Latest: Mexico expels North Korea’s ambassador

SEOUL, South Korea — The Latest on tensions on the Korean Peninsula (all times local): 7:15 a.m.

Mexico’s government is expelling the ambassador of North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test.

The Foreign Relations Department said ambassador Kin Hyon Gil was declared persona non-grata and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours.

“With this diplomatic action, Mexico expresses to the North Korean government its absolute rejection of its recent nuclear activity,” the department said on a press release.

A strong earthquake of magnitude 8 has struck in the Pacific off the southern coast of Mexico.

The epicentre was about 100km (62 miles) south-west of the town of Pijijiapan and at a depth of 35km, the United States Geological Survey said.

A tsunami warning has been issued for Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras.

ISIS using women and children in a losing Marawi battle

MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - Philippine troops fighting Islamic State-linked rebels in a southern city have encountered armed resistance from women and children, the military said on Monday, as troops make a final push to end a conflict that has raged for more than 100 days.

Ground forces were braced for higher casualties amid fierce fighting in Marawi City on the island of Mindanao, where the field of battle has shrank to a small area in a commercial heart infested with snipers, and littered with booby traps.

Counter-terrorism officers arresting the Abu Sayyaf militants in Cheras

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police thwarted a plan by a member of the Islamic-State linked Abu Sayyaf militant group to attack the closing ceremony of the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur last week, the top police official said on Tuesday.

The suspected attacker, a 25-year-old Philippine national, had been involved in fighting, kidnapping and beheading of foreign hostages in the Philippines, Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement.

The arrest will raise concern about increasing cooperation among militants within Southeast Asia and what governments fear is the spreading influence of Islamic State as it loses ground in the Middle East..

The Sabah politician tells the former minister to explain his claim of a deal between Umno and opposition leaders in 2013

KOTA KINABALU - Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee has challenged Shafie Apdal to come clean about his claim last July that a deal had been reached between some Sabah opposition leaders and Umno during the 2013 polls.

He said Shafie, who now leads Parti Warisan Sabah, should not let the matter be open to speculation.

Sarawak to set up own oil company amid ongoing talks with Petronas

The Sarawak state government is going ahead with plans to set up its own oil exploration company called Petroleum Sarawak (Petros), which will be wholly owned by the state, despite the low oil price environment.

However, it is unclear how this will impact the activities of national oil company, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), which has long operated in Sarawak, where it garners the bulk of its Malaysian revenue from gas fields there.

Petronas president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin had said recently that he welcomes any involvement by state government entities in the oil and gas (O&G) business, but it has to be within the Petroleum Development Act (PDA).

MARAWI, (Philippines) - The Philippine military believes Abdullah Maute, the leader of the Maute Group responsible for the attack in Marawi City, was killed in an air strike last month.

Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), cited information in the social media application Telegram where the local terrorist group is reportedly communicating with the Islamic State (ISIS), the international terrorist organization it pledged allegiance to.

TAWAU - Police nabbed a 47-year-old fisherman was arrested in connection with the fire which destroyed 60 houses at Block 6, 7 and 8 of Kampung Titingan here early today.

District police chief Assistant Commissioner Fadil Marsus said the suspect who tested positive for drugs is being investigated under Section 436 of Penal Code for arson.

He said the suspect who had no previous record was believed to have set fire to his rented house at Block 8 after the owner ordered him to evict the premises for failing to pay the rental.

A senior citizen died in the fire which occurred in the wee hours of today. The victim Sabon Ola, 82, was pronounced dead at hospital.

KUALA LUMPUR - Counterfeit Malaysian banknotes detected are of low quality, and mostly printed on normal paper using ordinary colour printers/copiers.

In a statement, Bank Negara Malaysia(BNM) said it can be easily distinguished from genuine banknotes by using a simple sense of touch and sight.

“Members of the public should be able to identify these counterfeit banknotes.

“Contrary to a recent media report, BNM and the police have not detected high quality counterfeit banknotes, printed using paper resembling actual banknote paper and state-of-the-art banknote printing techniques,” it added.

BNM also reiterated that incidences of counterfeit banknotes remained low with isolated cases.

KOTA KINABALU - Security forces in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (EssZone) are not discounting a possible new threat from southern Philippine women and children.

They believe militants from the conflict zone in the Philippine island of Mindanao are now trying to get women and children to enter Sabah by sea.

This comes in the wake of reports of a new twist to the conflict in Marawi City between Islamic State-affiliated terrorists and the Philippine army.

The former chief minister says he has no intention of contesting state seats in the coming general election

KOTA KINABALU - Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee is more than ready to pass the mantle of leading the party to younger leaders.

He said he also had no intention of contesting state seats in the upcoming general election.

SHANGHAI/LONDON (Reuters) - China on Monday banned and deemed illegal the practice of raising funds through launches of token-based digital currencies.

The move was targeted at so-called initial coin offerings (ICO) in a market that has exploded since the start of the year.

ICOs have become a bonanza for digital currency entrepreneurs, globally and in China, and have provided the fuel for a rapid ascent in the value of cryptocurrencies this year that has driven fears of a bubble that could burst.

Tackling terrorism always a priority, promises new IGP

KUALA LUMPUR - Tackling the threat of terrorism will be a priority for the new Inspector-General of Police.

Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, who was previously the Special Branch Director and Counter Terrorism Task Force chief, said combating the threat of terrorism would always be in the scope of the Royal Malaysian Police leadership.

"The Counter Terrorism Division will be boosted with additional personnel.

PETALING JAYA - If you are experiencing slow Internet connection, it is because strong typhoons around Hong Kong have ravaged four main cables connecting South-East Asia to the United States.

The damaged cables – ASE (Asia Submarine-cable Express), Asia-American Gateway (AAG), TGA-Intra Asia (TGA-IA), and SEA-ME-WE3 (SMW3) – will take up to six weeks to be fixed, according to the tech site SnowTechStuff.

Following U.S. warnings to North Korea of a "massive military response," South Korea's military on Monday fired missiles into the sea to simulate an attack on the North's main nuclear test site a day after Pyongyang detonated its largest ever nuclear test explosion.

The heated words from the United States and the military maneuvers in South Korea are becoming familiar responses to North Korea's rapid, as-yet unchecked pursuit of a viable arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that can strike the United States.
The most recent, and perhaps most dramatic, advancement came Sunday in an underground test of what leader Kim Jong Un's government claimed was a hydrogen bomb, the North's sixth nuclear test since 2006.

Abu Sayyaf bandits caught in KL

KOTA KINABALU - Eight suspected Abu Sayyaf terror group militants – Malaysians and Filipinos – have been captured in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Police arrested the southern Philippine-based militants including one of the Abu Sayaff leaders, Hajar Abdul Mubin, in an operation in Cheras on the eve of National Day on Aug 30.

Hajar, also known as Abu Asrie, was arrested with another Filipino, Abraham Embung, 29, and six Malaysians of Filipino descent from Sabah.

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