39 posts from 2008

taken from yahoo malaysia news (click for original posting)

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2008 (AFP) - The United States said Monday it would oppose any politically motivated investigation or prosecution of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim facing fresh sex misconduct charges.

Anwar is being investigated over new allegations of sodomy, Malaysian police said Saturday, the same charge that saw him jailed six years until 2004, when the charge was overturned.

The former deputy premier accused the government of concocting the new sex claims by a 23-year-old male aide and had briefly sought sanctuary at the Turkish embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, saying he had received threats and feared for his life.

"The main point for us is that the rule of law needs to stand above politics," said Tom Casey, spokesman for the US State Department.

"And we would certainly oppose any use of law enforcement or judicial procedures for anything other than legitimate purposes of the law," he said.

Noting that Anwar had previously faced similar charges and that his conviction was ultimately overturned, Casey said, "So, we would hope that there's not a pattern here.

"But, certainly, we would be concerned that anything that is done be done in a way that is appropriate, that is a legitimate investigation of charges that might exist under Malaysian law, and would not be anything that was a politically motivated investigation or prosecution," he said.

The new charges erupted after Anwar stormed back into Malaysian politics in March general elections that handed the opposition a third of parliamentary seats and five states.

Since then, Anwar has said he is poised to form a new government with the help of defectors from the ruling coalition, undermining Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who has faced repeated demands to step down over the polls debacle.

The charismatic opposition leader said the new charges would be "a repeat of the 1998 fiasco" when he was hit with the sodomy and corruption counts that were widely seen as politically motivated.

Anwar said he was targeted again because he had evidence that the police and attorney-general had fabricated evidence in the original sex trial.

Premier Abdullah denied any involvement in the new charges.

"We had no plans to do anything to him just because he says he's made a political comeback," he said.

Malaysian Criminal Investigation Department chief Bakri Zinin said Anwar's aide had personally written the report against his boss detailing an incident at a condominium in an upmarket Kuala Lumpur suburb.

• read this 1st, despite of the glamorous world it lies a lot of tension/stress & competition backstage.
• the news was taken from the newspaper
  

• Death of Beautiful Model Ruslana Korchunova (click for the original post)

Was her committed suicide preventable? Maybe if we paid more attention to her last posts. i can relate though.

"I'm so lost. Will I ever find myself?"
(true? not true? i don't know, i'm confused)

"It hurts, as if someone took a part of me, tore it out, mercilessly stomped all over and threw it out."
(sort of how i feel now, except not to the extent. i feel my heart torn out.. hopefully put back in)

"My dream is to fly. Oh, my rainbow it is too high."
(don't really know about this quote, all i know is i love flying in my dreams)

"I'm a bitch. I'm a witch. I don't care what you say ... I know why my other relationships didn't work out, 'cause I'm unpredictable. "
(i think the bitch and witch parts are true. i've become that, but i'm changing that because that's not the person i want to be. not caring what you say? i've said it, i regret it, it's harsh, and i wish i could take that all back. relationship thing.. probably true. i have nothing else to say about it.)

but i'm not going to end up like her any time soon

RIP RUSLANA KORCHUNOVA

this happened when i was going back from kl to my hometown. the bus ticket from the usual bus company that i took, had already finished. i was in a hurry, so i went to KKKL bus counter. i used to KKKL before, so i thought i can trust them. and then the interesting part came in!

i was in a hurry to get the earliest bus. as soon as i reached the counter i asked for the earliest bus. the woman said they still have seat left. i asked for a seat. then the lady gave me a ticket stated RM27 from kl to my hometown. what the heck! the usual price is only RM24, it's standard! since i don't have time to argue with her, i purchased the ticket.

when i was rushing to the platform, i keep thinking that it is impossible for KKKL to increase the price just because yesterday there was an announcement said that the oil price will be increase. this is because the other bus company especially the one that i usually took, did not increase their price yet.

when i want to enter the bus:

1. my seat was already had been taken by someone else! so they (KKKL) asked me to seat at somewhere else. ok fine
2. then the KKKL officer asked for my ticket, i know they wanna check the ticket. normal stuff, fine
3. suddenly, the guy changed my ticket with a new ticket. now i'm confuse.
4. so i checked the new ticket, & to my surprise.. the ticket price is indeed RM24! i knew i have been cheated by KKKL!
5. i was so mad with KKKL since they took my RM3. can u imagine if they did the same to 30 other people? it means they will get extra RM90 illegal money just like that! tak takut ke makan duit haram KKKL oii!!!
   

so that was what happened to me!

then a few weeks later, another woman had the same experienced as me. the only different think was, she was brave enough to tell the media/newspaper about her story.

so guys, if u think u will be in this situation, take the ticket's picture as a prove so that u can bring this case to the court. we should not let these people fool us!

taken from yahoo finance

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Four international airlines have agreed to pay $504 million in fines to settle charges they conspired to fleece consumers by driving up cargo shipping prices.

The Justice Department called the case one of the largest antitrust settlements in U.S. history. Associate Attorney General Kevin O'Connor called the scam an "international price-fixing cartel" that cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars between 2001 and 2006. In some instances, for example, fuel surcharges rose by 1,000 percent.

One of the four airlines -- Air France-KLM -- has agreed to pay $350 million of the total settlement. The other carriers are Cathay Pacific Airways, Martinair Holland and SAS Cargo Group.

"American consumers and taxpayers pour billions of dollars each year into the pockets of these lawbreakers," said FBI Assistant Director Joe Persichini. "Let there be no mistake that people in corporations that take consumers and taxpayers in this way are thieves."

Authorities said executives from each of the airlines met repeatedly in the United States, Europe and Asia to cook up a price-fixing scheme that raised cargo rates, fuel surcharges and security costs for businesses and, ultimately, consumers. The cartel focused on goods shipped to and from the United States, including electronics, clothing, produce and medicines, O'Connor said.

The settlement agreement, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, still requires a judge's approval.

Thursday's announcement marked the latest in a series of cargo shipping settlements over the last two years. Earlier, British Airways, Korean Air, Qantas and Japan Airlines filed similar agreements as part of the investigation.

In all, airlines have agreed to pay $1.2 billion in fines -- what O'Connor called "the highest total amount of fines ever imposed in a criminal antitrust investigation." The investigation is continuing.

• haute couture collection is back!
• click the 'couture' tag below for the past collection.