The Malaysian Insider :: world

India set for sweeping protests at petrol price rise

Thu, 31 May 2012 05:43:26 GMT

NEW DELHI, May 31 — Indian opposition parties have planned a national strike for today in protest against the steepest petrol price rise in the country’s history, seeking to exploit popular anger with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s embattled coalition government. Protests, marches and road blocks were planned across the country. The strike could ...

Suspect in Seattle gun rampage shoots self in head

Thu, 31 May 2012 03:39:27 GMT

SEATTLE, May 31 — A gunman shot three people to death at a popular Seattle cafe yesterday then fled to a downtown parking lot where he killed another woman and stole her car before shooting himself in the head as police closed in, authorities said. The man, who was not immediately identified, was being treated at Harborview Medical Centre ...

Egypt election outcome makes economic challenge tougher

Thu, 31 May 2012 03:19:39 GMT

CAIRO, May 31 — The success of two polarizing figures in Egypt’s presidential election could make it harder to put in place an effective government that can tackle an economic crisis and secure vital foreign aid. No centre-ground figure made it to next month’s run-off vote, setting up a showdown between the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, Mohamed ...

More killings and ultimatum deepen Syria conflict

Thu, 31 May 2012 02:27:05 GMT

BEIRUT, May 31 — Syrian rebels yesterday gave President Bashar al-Assad a 48-hour deadline to comply with an international peace plan otherwise they would renew their battle to overthrow him. The ultimatum was issued after UN observers reported the discovery of 13 bodies bound and shot in eastern Syria, adding to the world outcry over the massacre ...

Pakistan give new reason for jailing bin Laden case doctor

Thu, 31 May 2012 02:19:49 GMT

PESHAWAR, May 31 — In another twist to a case that is straining Islamabad’s ties with Washington, a Pakistani court says the doctor who helped the United States find Osama bin Laden was imprisoned for aiding militants and not for his links to the CIA. It is the third different explanation for the 33-year jail sentence handed to Dr Shakil ...

French court lifts gag order on Strauss-Kahn

Wed, 30 May 2012 23:20:37 GMT

PARIS, May 31 — A French appeals court yesterday lifted a gagging order that prevented former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn from speaking to the media during a judicial investigation into his links with a suspected prostitution ring. Strauss-Kahn is under investigation in France to establish whether he knew he was dealing with prostitutes and ...

British PM ex-aide charged with perjury over phone hacking

Wed, 30 May 2012 23:15:22 GMT

LONDON, May 31 — British Prime Minister David Cameron’s former spokesman was charged with perjury yesterday, after denying in court any knowledge of widespread phone hacking by reporters at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World. The charges against Andy Coulson, a former editor of the tabloid weekly, damages Cameron because it calls into question his ...

Brawl in Thai Parliament as thousands rally outside

Wed, 30 May 2012 14:42:26 GMT

BANGKOK, May 30 – A brawl broke out in the Thai Parliament when opposition representatives told the House Speaker to vacate his seat, in opposing proposed reconciliation bills, as thousands rallied outside the premises. The incident occurred about 6pm when the Speaker, Somsak Kiatsuranont, asked law makers to vote, in allowing the four proposed ...

S. Africa’s Mandela on TV, first time since illness

Wed, 30 May 2012 14:05:29 GMT

JOHANNESBURG, May 30 – Former South African President Nelson Mandela, making his first appearance on television since a hospital stay in February, was shown today receiving a flame marking the centenary of his ruling ANC party. The 93-year-old, anti-apartheid hero, sitting upright in a chair and surrounded by family at his rural home in the town ...

Mubarak sons face charges over stock market fraud

Wed, 30 May 2012 13:41:30 GMT

CAIRO, May 30 – The two sons of Egypt’s ousted President Hosni Mubarak will face charges of stock market manipulation, the public prosecutor said today, three days before a court was due to issue a verdict in a separate trial for their role in alleged corruption. Gamal and Alaa Mubarak are already standing trial with their father in a case in ...

British PM’s former spokesman arrested

Wed, 30 May 2012 09:26:30 GMT

LONDON, May 30 – British Prime Minister David Cameron’s former spokesman has been detained on suspicion of committing perjury in a court case in Scotland, Scotland’s Crown Office said today. Andy Coulson (picture) told a court case in 2010, while he was working for Cameron, that he had had no knowledge of illegal activities by reporters while he ...

Top UK court backs extradition of Assange to Sweden

Wed, 30 May 2012 08:49:42 GMT

LONDON, May 30 – Britain’s Supreme Court ruled today WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden over alleged sex crimes, but gave him two weeks to seek to reopen the case. Judges at Britain’s highest court rejected by a majority of 5-2 Assange’s argument that a European arrest warrant for his extradition was invalid. Two lower ...

China restates opposition to military intervention in Syria

Wed, 30 May 2012 07:55:22 GMT

BEIJING, May 30 — China today reiterated its opposition to military intervention or regime change in Syria, and called again for all sides to support mediation efforts by peace envoy Kofi Annan. The killings in the Syrian village of Houla, some of which the UN peacekeeping chief yesterday said bore the hallmarks of pro-government militias, have ...

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi gets hero’s welcome in Thailand

Wed, 30 May 2012 07:50:37 GMT

MAHACHAI, Thailand, May 30 — Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi received a rapturous reception in Thailand today from crowds of cheering compatriots who flocked to celebrate her first trip outside Myanmar in nearly a quarter of a century. More than 1,000 Myanmar migrants lined the streets waving flags and holding aloft pictures of Suu Kyi ...

Russia opposes Syria intervention, new UN action

Wed, 30 May 2012 07:34:54 GMT

MOSCOW, May 30 — Russia is categorically opposed to military intervention in Syria and believes it would be premature for the UN Security Council to consider new measures on the crisis there at this point, the Interfax news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying today. French President Francois Hollande said yesterday that ...

Greece’s pro-bailout conservatives leading in poll

Wed, 30 May 2012 07:20:00 GMT

ATHENS, May 30 — Greece’s pro-bailout conservatives are leading ahead of a national parliamentary election next month that may determine whether the country remains in the euro zone, an opinion poll showed today. Greece was forced to call the June 17 vote after an election on May 6 left parliament divided between parties that support and oppose ...

Top UK court to rule on Assange sex case extradition

Wed, 30 May 2012 06:34:18 GMT

LONDON, May 30 — Britain’s Supreme Court will rule today on whether to allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes, the latest chapter in the saga of the self-styled Internet whistleblower and bane of Washington. Swedish prosecutors want to question Assange over claims of rape and sexual assault made by ...

Developing rule of law ‘critical’ for China, says blind activist

Wed, 30 May 2012 06:19:46 GMT

BEIJING, May 30 — The biggest challenge for China’s next leaders is confronting a lawless police state nurtured by the Communist Party’s own drive to put top-down control ahead of human rights, blind activist Chen Guangcheng has written. Chen laid down his challenge to China’s next central leaders, who will be unveiled at a party congress later ...

UN group urges release of American in Nicaraguan prison

Wed, 30 May 2012 06:05:39 GMT

SACRAMENTO, California, May 30 — A United Nations group has called for the immediate release of a US citizen serving a 22-year prison sentence in Nicaragua for drug trafficking and money laundering, concluding that he was wrongly convicted, his supporters announced today. Jason Puracal, 34, was detained by Nicaraguan authorities in November 2010 ...

Thai webmaster gets suspended sentence in royal insult case

Wed, 30 May 2012 04:54:49 GMT

BANGKOK, May 30 — A Thai website editor was found guilty today of insulting the monarchy but was given a suspended jail sentence, a light punishment in a high-profile case that has renewed the debate over strict royal censorship laws. Judge Kampol Rungrat told the Bangkok Criminal Court that some posts on the Prachatai news website had been ...

Trump ‘birther’ remarks overshadow Romney appearance

Wed, 30 May 2012 04:22:05 GMT

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, May 30 — Controversy over the “birther” movement hung over a meeting in Las Vegas yesterday between Mitt Romney and high-profile supporter Donald Trump, whose comments about President Barack Obama have put the Republican presidential candidate in an awkward spot. Trump has again raised doubts about whether Obama was born in the ...

Judge orders Manson Family tapes turned over to police

Wed, 30 May 2012 04:06:25 GMT

LOS ANGELES, May 30 — Taped conversations between Manson Family killer Charles “Tex” Watson and a Texas lawyer in 1969 must be given to Los Angeles police investigating the cult’s possible involvement in unsolved murders, a judge ruled yesterday. Detectives are anxious to review some eight hours of discussions between lawyer Bill Boyd, now dead, ...

Vatican says leaks scandal is brutal attack on pope

Wed, 30 May 2012 03:53:13 GMT

VATICAN CITY, May 30 — The Vatican yesterday denounced the theft of secret papal documents as a “brutal” personal attack on Pope Benedict, as a powerful group of cardinals hunted more culprits behind the biggest crisis of his pontificate. With the crisis over leaks of sensitive documents deepening, the third most senior figure in the Vatican fired ...

Romney clinches Republican 2012 nomination in Texas

Wed, 30 May 2012 01:32:23 GMT

WASHINGTON, May 30 — Mitt Romney clinched the Republican presidential nomination yesterday with a resounding victory in Texas and now faces a five-month sprint to convince voters to trust him over Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election. Although the race has been essentially over for weeks, Romney finally cleared the ...

Pakistani doctor in bin Laden hunt rejected US escape, say officials

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:52:56 GMT

WASHINGTON, May 30 — US authorities said a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track down Osama bin Laden turned down an opportunity to leave his country and resettle overseas with his family, two US officials told Reuters yesterday. Dr. Shakil Afridi was jailed last week in Pakistan for 33 years for treason and the Obama administration has come ...

Romney’s birth certificate evokes his father’s controversy

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:06:25 GMT

WASHINGTON, May 30 — Finally, there is definitive proof: The presidential candidate was born in the United States, and his father was not. Yes, Republican Mitt Romney appears eligible to be president, according to a copy of Romney’s birth certificate released to Reuters by his campaign. Willard Mitt Romney, the certificate says, was born in ...

US Eagle Scout to challenge anti-gay policy

Tue, 29 May 2012 23:56:46 GMT

ORLANDO, Florida, May 30 — An Eagle Scout whose defence of gay civil unions went viral in 2011 on YouTube plans to challenge the anti-gay policy of the Boy Scouts of America at its annual conference in Orlando today. Zach Wahls, 20, of Iowa City, Iowa, told Reuters he will present the Boy Scouts leadership with a petition signed by more than ...

West expels envoys over massacre of Syrian children

Tue, 29 May 2012 23:20:28 GMT

BEIRUT, May 30 — Western powers expelled Syria’s envoys yesterday in outrage at a massacre of 108 people, almost half of them children, and peace envoy Kofi Annan urged President Bashar al-Assad to halt the bloodshed as “a tipping point” had been reached. The killings in the town of Houla drew a chorus of condemnation from around the world, with ...

Philippines’ top judge ousted in victory for Aquino

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:04:30 GMT

MANILA, May 29 – The Philippine Senate voted today to remove the country’s top judge, a landmark victory for President Benigno Aquino that should embolden his campaign to root out institutional corruption and could quicken the pace of economic reforms. Twenty out of 23 senators voted to oust Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona on charges of ...

Second big quake hits northern Italy, 15 dead

Tue, 29 May 2012 07:52:33 GMT

MILAN, May 29 – A strong earthquake struck northern Italy today, killing at least fifteen people and spreading panic among residents still living in tents after a tremor shook the region just over a week ago, destroying their homes. Italian news agencies said six people were confirmed dead and many people were injured. “The situation is very ...

Afghan insurgents target safest province Bamiyan

Tue, 29 May 2012 06:12:16 GMT

KABUL, May 29 ― Insurgents have stepped up attacks in the area thought to be Afghanistan's safest, the rugged central province of Bamiyan, moving into the region in a bid to undermine security ahead of the end-2014 exit from the country of most foreign combat troops. Around 20 Taliban fighters from neighbouring Baghlan province have crossed into ...

Pakistan doctor in bin Laden case called corrupt, womaniser

Tue, 29 May 2012 02:25:29 GMT

ISLAMABAD, May 29 ― The Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden faced accusations of corruption and other wrongdoing long before he was captured by Pakistani intelligence agents and then jailed for 33 years for treason. In interviews over the weekend, several current and former Pakistani officials described the doctor, Shakil ...

Egyptians torch Shafiq HQ as vote triggers violence

Tue, 29 May 2012 01:46:31 GMT

CAIRO, May 29 ― Demonstrators furious that Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister made it into the run-off for Egypt's presidential election set ablaze his campaign headquarters on Monday, witnesses said, underscoring the divisive outcome of the country's historic vote. Former air force commander Ahmed Shafiq, who has described Mubarak as a role ...

UK politicians ‘bowed’ before Murdoch, says British DPM

Tue, 29 May 2012 00:46:15 GMT

LONDON, May 29 ― Britain's political class competed to "bow and scrape" before media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Tuesday, in comments aimed at setting his Liberal Democrats apart from the country's two other main parties. The Lib Dems, Britain's third-largest party, has had relatively few dealings with Murdoch ...

Assad faces new international pressure after massacre

Mon, 28 May 2012 23:33:39 GMT

AMMAN, May 29 ― President Bashar al-Assad faces renewed international pressure to end the bloodshed in Syria but, with peace envoy Kofi Annan visiting Damascus, his government blamed Islamist militants for a massacre in which UN observers had implicated his army. Annan, on a mission from the United Nations and Arab League, is scheduled to meet ...

Vatican says trust in Church hurt by scandal

Mon, 28 May 2012 14:39:40 GMT

VATICAN CITY, May 28 – The Vatican acknowledged today that the worst crisis in Pope Benedict’s papacy had hurt the faith of Roman Catholics in their Church, but denied any cardinal was a suspect in a deepening scandal over leaked documents. The scandal exploded last week when, within a few days, the head of the Vatican’s own bank was abruptly ...

China condemns ‘cruel killings’ in Syria’s Houla

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:21:17 GMT

BEIJING, May 28 – China today condemned the “cruel killings” of civilians in the Syrian town of Houla, while insisting that peace mediator Kofi Annan’s efforts remained the most viable way to end the violence in Syria. The comments from the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin marked an intensification of Beijing’s condemnation of the ...

Greek pro-bailout conservatives regain lead, polls show

Mon, 28 May 2012 07:17:50 GMT

ATHENS, May 28 — Greece’s conservatives have regained an opinion poll lead that would allow the formation of a pro-bailout government committed to keeping the country in the euro zone, a batch of new surveys shows. Greece was forced to call repeat elections for June 17 after a May 6 vote left parliament divided evenly between groups of parties ...

Tibetan capital sees first anti-China self-immolations

Mon, 28 May 2012 05:33:20 GMT

SHANGHAI, May 28 — Two Tibetan men set themselves on fire in central Lhasa yesterday, the first in a series of self-immolation protests against Chinese rule over Tibet to take place in the regional capital, the Xinhua state news agency said today. Police put out the flames within two minutes but one of the men died, it said. The other was ...

Another ousted China party chief challenges case against him

Mon, 28 May 2012 05:28:06 GMT

BEIJING, May 28 — The former Communist Party chief of Beijing who was at the heart of one of China’s biggest political scandals before this year’s upheaval over Bo Xilai has challenged charges that brought him prison and disgrace in a book likely to stir controversy. Chen Xitong was dismissed as Communist Party secretary of Beijing in 1995 and ...

Indonesian media mogul makes leap into politics

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:53:48 GMT

JAKARTA, May 28 — Indonesian billionaire Hary Tanoesoedibjo already has over a third of the country’s TV viewers in his pocket. Now he wants the same share of votes in a general election, enough to clinch power for the political party he helps lead. Tanoesoedibjo has built a US$7.2 billion (RM22.7 billion) business empire in Indonesia in just 14 ...

Britain’s Blair faces grilling over ties to Murdoch

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:41:29 GMT

LONDON, May 28 — Tony Blair’s decision to openly court Rupert Murdoch to win power and ensure favourable coverage during his decade-long tenure as British prime minister will come under scrutiny when he faces a media inquiry today. The inquiry, ordered by Prime Minister David Cameron after Murdoch’s now defunct News of the World tabloid admitted ...

UN Security Council meets to discuss Syria massacre

Sun, 27 May 2012 23:24:32 GMT

AMMAN, May 28 — The UN Security Council met yesterday to discuss the killing of at least 108 people in the Syrian town of Houla, a sign of mounting outrage at the massacre that the government and rebels blamed on each other. Images of bloodied and lifeless young bodies, lain carefully side by side after the onslaught on Friday, triggered shock ...

Nepal parties fail to finalise constitution

Sun, 27 May 2012 15:52:17 GMT

KATHMANDU, May 27 — Nepal’s warring political parties said today they had failed to narrow their differences sufficiently to agree on a new constitution for the Himalayan republic before a midnight deadline, plunging the country into fresh political turmoil. A new constitution was widely seen as crucial to ending the instability that has plagued ...

Dozens held after skirmishes at Moscow gay rallies

Sun, 27 May 2012 15:40:35 GMT

MOSCOW, May 27 — Dozens of people were detained in Moscow today after Russian Orthodox Church activists broke up two gay rights protests, throwing water and shouting prayers at demonstrators. Some Orthodox activists threw punches at the protesters, grabbed their rainbow flags — the symbol of the gay rights movement — and trampled on them in front ...

Egypt’s two contenders for president vie for votes

Sun, 27 May 2012 14:01:10 GMT

CAIRO, May 27 — The two apparent survivors in Egypt’s presidential race tried to gather support today from voters dismayed at what many see as a painful second-round choice between an Islamist apparatchik and a throwback to Hosni Mubarak’s era. Both men are seeking to soften those images, lay claim to the mantle of the “revolution” that toppled ...

German teenager enslaved for years in Bosnia

Sun, 27 May 2012 13:51:15 GMT

KARAVLASI (Bosnia), May 27 — A teenage German woman has been rescued from a Bosnian couple who are accused of starving and beating her for years and of harnessing her to a horse cart and making her pull it. The 19-year-old, kept in a hamlet near the northeastern town of Kalesija since 2004, had been taken to safety and the couple had been detained ...

Eight Afghan civilians said killed in NATO airstrike

Sun, 27 May 2012 13:16:39 GMT

KHOST (Afghanistan), May 27 — Eight members of an Afghan family, including six children and two women, were killed in a NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan, local authorities said today, although the NATO-led coalition said there was no evidence of any civilian casualties. The strike took place in the Gerda Serai district of Paktia late ...

China detains official for rapes after online uproar

Sun, 27 May 2012 12:22:16 GMT

BEIJING, May 27 — Police in central China detained a former Communist Party official on suspicion of raping underage girls, state media said today, following an online uproar about the latest case of abuse of power. Li Xingong, who was the party’s deputy head in Yongcheng city in Henan province, is accused of assaulting more than 10 girls during ...

Finnish rooftop gunman seems not to be extremist

Sun, 27 May 2012 11:06:33 GMT

HELSINKI, May 27 — A gunman opened fire from a rooftop in a Finnish town centre in the early hours of yesterday, killing two people and wounding several others, police said. An 18-year-old man wearing camouflage clothing was arrested after the shooting in Hyvinkaa, a small town 56 km north of the capital Helsinki. The motive for the shooting was ...