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Sunday October 11, 2009

Last week in brief

Compiled by JOSEPH LOH


SUNDAY

Hornet attack

Three siblings died after they were attacked by a swarm of hornets near Kuching. Chen Sze Ying, six, and Chun Jie, three, died soon after they were admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital. Sze Ting, eight, was in a coma and died four days later. Their mother Tan Wan Chew and uncle Tan Lan Chia survived the attack. A pest control expert engaged by the Padawan Municipal Council destroyed the remaining hornet hives.

Former minister dead

Shoichi Nakagawa, the former Japanese finance minister who stepped down after appearing to be drunk at a news

conference during a meeting of the Group of Seven financial leaders in Rome in February, was found dead in his home. The cause of death is being investigated.

MONDAY

TI-M president resigns

Datuk Paul Low resigned as president of Transparency International Malaysia, citing the differing views following his release of the Malaysian Chapter of the Global Corruption Report as the main reason behind his decision. The report, among others, cited the Port Klang Free Zone controversy as the biggest scandal of the year. Datuk Mohamed Iqbal will be acting president in the interim.

Iran nuke checks

UN atomic watchdog head Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran had assured the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that its inspectors would be given access to the country’s new uranium enrichment plant. An inspection visit to the plant located in a mountain near the holy city of Qom, south of Teheran, has been planned for Oct 25.

New Supreme Court

Britain’s new Supreme Court, a group of 12 justices previously known as the Law Lords, heard its first case. The justices used to make their rulings from the red benches of the stately House of Lords but now sit across the street at London’s faux-medieval Middlesex Guildhall, at a simple crescent table. The removal of the nation’s highest court from the legislature was meant to emphasise Britain’s separation of powers.

TUESDAY

Planes frozen

A luxury jet aircraft worth millions of ringgit and several other assets belonging to embattled Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing were frozen. Police invoked a section under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) to also freeze a luxury car as well as a plot of land said to be owned by Tiong.

We’re No. 3

Malaysia was ranked number three among Asean countries on the latest United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index (HDI). The index, compiled from 2007 data, is a summary indication of well-being, combining measures of life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and Gross Domestic Product per capita. Overall Malaysia ranked 66th. Two other Asean countries that ranked higher are Singapore (23rd) and Brunei (30th).

Boon for army wives

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zahid Hamidi said the ruling that 10% of the salary of members of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) would be credited into the wife’s bank account will be expanded to cover all levels up to the post of the MAF chief. The move came into effect on Oct 1.

2009 Nobel winners

Charles Kao, Willard Boyle and George Smith won the Nobel Physics Prize; Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas Steitz, and Israeli Ada Yonath won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Herta Mueller won the Nobel Prize in Literature; and US President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.

WEDNESDAY

UM jump

Universiti Malaya (UM) climbed 50 places from last year to 180 in the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) — QS World University Rankings 2009. Another local university that improved in rankings was Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), standing at 320 compared to 356 last year.

New ring discovered

The Spitzer Space Telescope discovered the biggest but never-before-seen ring around the planet Saturn, Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced. The ring is very diffuse and doesn’t reflect much visible light but the infrared Spitzer telescope was able to detect it. The bulk of the ring material starts about 5.95 million kilometres from the planet and extends outward about another 11.9 million kilometres.

Orange alert

Sabah was put on Orange alert as tropical storm Parma over the Philippines triggered heavy rains and strong winds in the state. Many low-lying areas in the west coast of Sabah were flooded. Power failures and telecommunications were disrupted but there were no reports of any casualty and serious incidents.

THURSDAY

Ship on fire

The KD Seri Inderapura, the Royal Malaysian Navy’s biggest landing craft, caught fire while berthed at the RMN base jetty in Lumut. The fire, which was reported to have occurred at about 6am, started in the office and storage areas. No injuries were reported. Initial reports showed the fire to have been caused by a short-circuit. The ship caught fire again 16 hours later.

Leaden fruit

The Health Ministry put dried fruit products from 15 companies in China, Taiwan and other Asian countries on Level 5 alert because of their high levels of lead - up to 30 ppm. Level 5 enables the Ministry to hold products for testing before they can be released into the market.

‘Invasion’ postponed

Volunteer vigilante group from Indonesia Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat (Bendera) said it has postponed its “plans” to wage war with Malaysia by a day. Its coordinator Mustar Nona Ventura said that around 1,300 volunteers, including 50 medical personnel, would be departing for Malaysia until Oct 22. Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop said security forces, namely those guarding the coast, had been put on alert.

FRIDAY

Looking for water

The US blasted the surface of the moon with two rockets on a mission to look for water below the lunar surface that could be used by astronauts on future space missions, Nasa said. The blasts would kick up a plume of lunar dirt to an altitude of about 10km and produce a flash lasting 30 seconds.

SATURDAY

Dramatic decisions

MCA delegates made dramatic decisions at the party EGM. The vote-of-no-confidence against Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat got through by 14 votes. His suspended deputy, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, failed to be reinstated as deputy president but was voted back as a member.

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