The Malaysian Insider :: ALL

Some US brokerages stop taking Facebook IPO orders

Thu, 17 May 2012 01:33:25 GMT

NEW YORK, May 17 — Investors who want Facebook Inc shares when the No. 1 online social network goes public later this week may have lost the opportunity. TD Ameritrade and Fidelity’s brokerage arm both stopped accepting orders of Facebook shares as of yesterday evening, according to representatives for each of the companies. Morgan Stanley & Co ...

Iran flouts UN sanctions, sends arms to Syria

Thu, 17 May 2012 01:26:45 GMT

NEW YORK, May 17 — Syria remains the top destination for Iranian arms shipments in violation of a UN Security Council ban on weapons exports by the Islamic Republic, according to a confidential report on Iran sanctions-busting seen by Reuters yesterday. Iran, like Russia, is one of Syria’s few allies as it presses ahead with a 14-month old assault ...

Nilai maklumat rahsia perbankan — Nurul Anuar Kari

Thu, 17 May 2012 01:21:59 GMT

17 MEI — Sejajar dengan perkembangan teknologi moden, sistem perbankan negara dan dunia kini bergerak ke arah aplikasi digital bagi memudahkan urusan pelanggan. Secara positif, langkah ini bukan sahaja menjimatkan penggunaan kertas dan meringkaskan proses dokumentasi rekod, malahan mempercepatkan lagi urusan aliran tunai. Umum juga sedar teknologi ...

Asian shares steady after sell-off

Thu, 17 May 2012 01:13:47 GMT

TOKYO, May 17 — Asian shares steadied today from the previous day’s sell-off, but investors found no reason to bet on risk amid deepening turmoil in Greece and fears of contagion to other stressed euro zone economies. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1 per cent, after sliding more than three per cent for its ...

Busy Lopez casts doubt on more ‘American Idol’

Thu, 17 May 2012 01:00:35 GMT

LOS ANGELES, May 17 — Jennifer Lopez is casting doubt on whether she will return to “American Idol” next year as she juggles motherhood with a comeback in both her pop music and acting careers. Lopez, who has young twins, told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres this week that she wasn’t sure about renewing her contract as a judge on the TV singing ...

Melayu tiada tempat dalam DAP — Zulkifli Jalil

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:53:02 GMT

17 MEI — Sejarah penyertaan orang Melayu atau pemimpin Melayu dalam DAP penuh ranjau berduri. Kalau boleh dikaji senarai kepemimpinan Pusat parti itu, orang Melayu dan Bumiputera yang membentuk hampir 67 peratus rakyat hanya mempunyai dua wakil sahaja. Bumiputera Sabah dan Sarawak pula langsung tidak diwakili. Meskipun dikatakan DAP Melayu sudah ...

AirAsia becomes latest low-cost name to land in Beijing

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:38:36 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — Asian low-cost pioneer AirAsia X is to commence service to Beijing. The carrier will begin flights on June 22, increasing the frequency to and from China’s booming capital in August. The news is likely to be welcomed by passengers as the new flights will replace its current service to Tianjin, which is around 100km from ...

Democratic values banished? — Tay Tian Yan

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:28:13 GMT

MAY 17 — Lim Kit Siang said: My heart’s broken! Anyone who cares about the DAP will be equally broken-hearted. I received a text message from a senior DAP leader, telling me Tunku Abdul Aziz’s departure dealt a serious blow to the party. It took the DAP a whole lot of effort to inch towards a multiracial entity and now all the transformation ...

Britney is back — and so are the brickbats

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:10:57 GMT

LOS ANGELES, May 17 — Britney Spears has not even taken her seat as the new judge of “The X Factor,” but the pop icon is already getting a lesson in the media glare of live, talent show television. Spears had barely wrapped up an appearance in New York confirming she is joining the singing contest before the celebrity knives were out, raising the ...

‘Godfather of Go-Go’ Chuck Brown dies aged 75

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:05:18 GMT

LOS ANGELES, May 17 — Chuck Brown, known as the “Godfather of Go-Go” for the subgenre of funk music he helped create, died yesterday at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore after being admitted earlier this month suffering from pneumonia. A spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed the death but could not provide a cause, and Brown’s ...

The unsung heroes (Part 2)

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:04:16 GMT

MAY 17 — The English Premier League season came to an end on Sunday and new heroes and legends were born with the breathtaking climax in the match played at the Etihad Stadium. Nothing can take away the joy of victory that literally came from within seconds of the agony of defeat for Manchester City. And I am glad to note that my pick for City in ...

Singapore techs face margin squeeze, outlook better

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:54:38 GMT

SINGAPORE, May 17 — Cost pressures are piling up for Singapore’s electronics sector, with some listed companies reporting lower profit margins, but analysts expect an improvement in the second half of the year as the holiday season boosts demand. The slump in the sector, which contributes more than one-third of Singapore’s non-oil domestic ...

Historic diamond sells for RM29.1m

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:51:50 GMT

GENEVA, May 17 — A centuries-old diamond passed down through generations of European royalty fetched nine million Swiss francs (RM29.1 million) at auction in Geneva on Tuesday. The 35-carat “Beau Sancy” diamond was worn by Marie de Medici, Queen consort of Henry IV, at her coronation in 1610. Five bidders spanning three continents competed for ...

Ad execs say jury still out on Facebook as medium

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:48:26 GMT

NEW YORK, May 17 — General Motors Inc’s decision to stop advertising on Facebook may be a wake-up call for the No. 1 social network, but Top advertising executives say it is far too early to know if the site will take off as an advertising platform. “There’s a lot of potential but it’s not a slam-dunk,” said Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP ...

Let’s ensure they are home for keeps — Richard Hartung

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:41:28 GMT

MAY 17 — A young pharmacist recently returned to Singapore after a highly satisfying stint studying and working in Australia. There, she said, doctors she worked with listened to her and valued her input. When she returned to Singapore, however, she found herself in a workplace where doctors expected orders to be followed, new practices were ...

Nations that sow chaos will suffer, Syria’s Assad warns

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:38:27 GMT

AMMAN, May 17 — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said yesterday that countries trying to “sow chaos” in Syria could be infected with it themselves, an apparent warning to Arab Gulf nations that back the insurgency aimed at forcing him from power. Assad’s remarks, to a Russian TV channel, came after UN staff monitoring an increasingly shaky ...

Hollande taps old hands, new faces for French government

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:32:22 GMT

PARIS, May 17 — French President Francois Hollande named a government dominated by moderate left-wingers yesterday after Socialist Party boss Martine Aubry, overlooked for the post of prime minister, said she no longer wanted to be part of the new cabinet. Hollande, sworn in on Tuesday as France’s first Socialist president in 17 years, named ...

On children having children

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:26:20 GMT

MAY 17 — Next time you go to a city mall or any of the swanky places in Bangsar, Bandar Utama or Damansara, check out the couples with children. Very often, these days you will find that the ones pushing the pram or strollers are extremely young and look as if they just checked out of secondary school. It’s quite troubling, to me at least. There ...

Dalglish departs with Liverpool still in a flux

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:24:28 GMT

LONDON, May 17 — As Liverpool begin their search for a successor to Kenny Dalglish, the burning question is how the once dominant force in English football can become top dogs again? Dalglish, who had his contract terminated yesterday after the club’s worst English Premier League finish for almost 20 years, was part of the great Liverpool sides of ...

Liverpool give King Kenny the boot

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:16:59 GMT

LIVERPOOL, May 17 — Kenny Dalglish’s second stint in charge of Liverpool was ended by the club’s American owners yesterday as the Anfield great paid the price for his side’s worst English Premier League finish for almost 20 years. Once the dominant force in English football, Liverpool have not won the championship since 1990 and the club’s ...

Defeating Goliath

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:16:38 GMT

MAY 17 — The majority of Malaysian professionals are unsympathetic to Barisan Nasional (BN), actually Umno (the other coalition partners are rather ineffectual or don’t set national policies). They, our professionals, enjoy the usual comedy shows parodying present leaders. Though they keenly follow national politics, they are disinterested in ...

Greeks vote with wallets in fear of euro zone exit

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:12:02 GMT

ATHENS, May 17 — Greeks are voting with their wallets and pulling euros out of the banks in fear that their country may leave the European single currency despite the declared determination of EU powers Germany and France to keep Athens in the monetary union. Central banking sources said the European Central Bank has stopped lending to some Greek ...

One billion international tourists expected this year

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:06:01 GMT

MEXICO CITY, May 17 — More than one billion tourists will take a trip this year crossing an international boundary, a threshold never before reached, UN officials told a meeting tourism ministers gathering in Mexico this week. “We will have more than a billion tourists, that means one-seventh of humanity. This has never happened in history,” said ...

Huge finds make East Africa next big gas source

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:04:06 GMT

LONDON, May 17 — Western companies announced finds of huge additional quantities of gas off the coast of Mozambique and Tanzania, cementing the future of East Africa as a major new supplier exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) to energy-hungry Asia. Italian oil group Eni said yesterday it had discovered a vast new field at its exploration block ...

DAP believes Malay appeal still sound without Tunku Aziz

Wed, 16 May 2012 22:59:20 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — Despite their initial shock at Tunku Aziz Tunku Ibrahim’s resignation, DAP leaders believe his sudden departure would not affect the party’s appeal to the Malay electorate. DAP Socialist Youth chief Anthony Loke told The Malaysian Insider that the DAP has been successful so far in its quest to encourage more Malay ...

Euro, Wall St fall on ECB, Fed minutes

Wed, 16 May 2012 22:59:06 GMT

NEW YORK, May 17 — US stocks and the euro slid yesterday on news that some Greek banks face emergency funding needs, while minutes from the Federal Reserve’s April meeting showed US economic prospects remain sobering. The European Central Bank stopped funding operations for some Greek banks as they are undercapitalised, the ECB said, confirming a ...

PAP and Workers’ Party to contest Hougang by-election

Wed, 16 May 2012 20:57:56 GMT

SINGAPORE, May 16 — The Hougang by-election will be a straight fight between the Workers’ Party’s Png Eng Huat and People’s Action Party’s Desmond Choo after all. At 12.35pm today, returning officer Yam Ah Mee announced the two candidates and said the poll would be conducted on May 26. Addressing his supporters in Mandarin and English, Mr Choo ...

Two Mexican generals detained for alleged drug gang ties

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:51:35 GMT

MEXICO CITY, May 16 — Two Mexican generals, including the former deputy minister of defense who helped lead the escalation of the country’s war against drug gangs, are being investigated for ties to organised crime, the attorney general’s office said today. Mexican soldiers yesterday detained Tomas Angeles Dauahare, who served as the army‘s second ...

US to freeze assets to help Yemeni transition

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:33:40 GMT

WASHINGTON, May 16 — US President Barack Obama today ordered the freezing of US assets of anyone the United States considers to be obstructing the Washington-backed political transition in Yemen. The executive order targets “certain members of the Government of Yemen and others,” according to a copy of the document released by the White House that ...

Barcelona’s Alves to have surgery on fractured collarbone

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:33:03 GMT

MADRID, May 16 – Barcelona defender Dani Alves fractured his right collarbone during training today and is due to have surgery later in the afternoon, the Spanish club said in statement. A news conference will be held at 1800 GMT when the club doctors will give further details. The Brazil international is set to miss Barcelona’s last game of the ...

Sauber gives CEO Kaltenborn a stake in F1 team

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:18:59 GMT

LONDON, May 16 – The Swiss founder and owner of Sauber has given the Formula One team’s chief executive a third of the company to ensure she stays on to lead it after he retires. Peter Sauber, 68, transferred the stake to Indian-born CEO Monisha Kaltenborn at the end of last year but the agreement was only made public today. Sauber has designated ...

Berlin airport opening delayed until 2013

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:18:38 GMT

BERLIN, May 16 — Berlin’s new airport will not now open until 2013 due to fire regulations, German paper Bild reported today, heaping further embarrassment on authorities who had said the hold-up would only stretch to three months. The capital’s long-awaited new airport had been due to open on June 3, replacing two from the Cold War era. But just ...

Mladic taunts survivors at start of genocide trial

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:14:58 GMT

THE HAGUE, May 16 — Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic made a throat-slitting gesture to a woman who lost her son, husband and brothers in the Srebenica massacre at the start of his trial today for some of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War Two. Mladic, now 70, flashed a defiant thumbs-up as he entered the courtroom — the last of the ...

English the preferred language for world business

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:10:34 GMT

NEW YORK, May 16 – Workers whose jobs require them to interact with people in foreign countries say that English is the dominant language of business, according to a new poll. More than one quarter of employees in 26 countries around the world told an Ipsos poll that their jobs involve dealing with people in other countries. And of those, ...

‘Moonrise Kingdom’ called ‘very, very funny,’ ‘chic and charming’: Twitter highlights from Cannes

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:59:37 GMT

CANNES, May 16 — Wes Anderson’s tale of young love and escape Moonrise Kingdom is the opening film for this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Critics and other attendees of the first screening took to Twitter to express their opinions, a selection of which can be found below in the first of a series of articles from Relaxnews examining social media ...

Playful Aduriz masters culinary mind games

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:48:08 GMT

TORONTO, May 16 — Basque chef Andoni Luis Aduriz, the culinary conjurer behind one of the top-ranked restaurant in the world, enjoys a good gag as he lets his imagination run wild at Mugaritz, set in the hills outside San Sebastian in northern Spain. An early protégé of Ferran Adria at El Bulli, Aduriz, 40, is famous for tricks such as disguising ...

Need for faster financial instruments launch, says China’s central bank

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:44:29 GMT

BEIJING, May 16 – China should quicken the pace of launching new financial instruments and capital markets must to be strengthened to improve their contribution to supporting economic activity, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said today. Zhou made his comments in a speech to an audience of financial regulators and industry ...

German minister steps down, replaced by Merkel ally

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:42:56 GMT

BERLIN, May 16 — German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen, who took the blame for a historic defeat for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in a regional election on Sunday, is to step down and be replaced by her parliamentary whip Peter Altmaier, official sources said today. Merkel was expected to make the announcement in a statement to ...

Hollande government to be dominated by moderates, Aubry out

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:34:36 GMT

PARIS, May 16 — The government of France’s new President Francois Hollande is likely to be dominated by moderate social democrats after party leader Martine Aubry, overlooked for the prime minister’s role, said today she would not be in the cabinet. Aubry, daughter of former European Commission president Jacques Delors and on the left of the ...

Terry named in England squad, Gerrard captain

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:10:05 GMT

LONDON, May 16 – England manager Roy Hodgson included Chelsea’s John Terry, Liverpool striker Andy Carroll and Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy in a 23-man squad with Steven Gerrard named as captain today for next month’s European Championship. Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was left out but his club team mate Wayne Rooney was included ...

How did they miss the link? — Tulsathit Taptim

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:05:59 GMT

MAY 16 — The British media have credited Manchester City’s “crazily dramatic” Premier League title win on Sunday to anything and anyone but the right thing(s) and the right one(s). Steve Jobs would have traced the dots and found their origin in Thailand. Sergio Aguero’s last-gasp strike against Queens Park Rangers that turned the watching world on ...

Twists and turns — Lim Sue Goan

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:59:50 GMT

MAY 16 — Socialist Francois Hollande won the French presidential election while the two major parties in the Greek ruling coalition failed to win a parliamentary majority. The election results have made Malaysian leaders uneasy. The election result in France might cause the deterioration of the debt crisis in Europe, which might affect our economy ...

Bradley Cooper stars in ‘Hit and Run’

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:51:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES, May 16 — The first trailer for the romantic-comedy Hit and Run, starring Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) and Kristin Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) was released May 15. Cooper, who wears dreadlocks, plays the former cohort of Dax Shepard’s character, an ex-bank robber in the witness protection programme whose past returns to haunt ...

Singapore Airlines to suspend services to Abu Dhabi, Athens

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:43:38 GMT

SINGAPORE, May 16 — Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA), which is struggling with weak load factors, said today it will suspend services to Abu Dhabi and Athens from October 26 due to weak demand. SIA, the world’s second-largest carrier by market value, currently flies to and from Abu Dhabi three times a week. The Singapore flag carrier flies to the ...

Nazri: Bar Council has no right to reject law academy

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:41:58 GMT

JAKARTA, May 16 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz today said that the Bar Council had no right to reject the proposed setting up of a Law Academy. He (picture) said the establishment of the academy was proposed for the benefit of those with a legal background who did not belong to any association, like ...

The bell tolls for the in-car CD player

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:31:23 GMT

DETROIT, May 16 — CD players could become the next victim of the struggle to shed pounds from cars in the name of fuel efficiency. In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, senior Ford designer Michael Arbaugh revealed recently that he was “looking forward to the day” when designers ditch CD players on dashboards forever. The reason is simple — ...

Baron Cohen’s dictator storms Cannes, camel in tow

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:14:45 GMT

CANNES, May 16 — It took no less than a live camel strolling the promenade in Cannes to steal the show on the film festival’s opening day, a feat that comedian Sacha Baron Cohen pulled off with chutzpah today. The British satirist, star of “Borat” and “Bruno,” used the novel public relations stunt to draw attention to the US opening of his new ...

Sources: Apple readies iPhone with larger screen

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:07:19 GMT

TOKYO, May 16 — Apple Inc plans to use a larger screen on the next-generation iPhone and has begun to place orders for the new displays from suppliers in South Korea and Japan, people familiar with the situation said today. The new iPhone screens will measure four inches from corner to corner, one source said. That would represent a roughly 30 per ...

Ukraine dismisses EU plea over jailed Tymoshenko

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:56:13 GMT

KIEV, May 16 — Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov today brushed aside Western concerns about his government’s treatment of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko as misguided and unwarranted, indicating that Kiev was unlikely to change its mind. The EU has condemned the sentencing of former prime minister Tymoshenko — the top opponent of President ...

DBKL, police keep watch over Ambiga’s residence

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:47:02 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 – Police and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) enforcement unit today patrolled the residence of Datuk S. Ambiga at Jalan Setiakasih 1, Bukit Damansara here. Two DBKL vans with 10 enforcement officers and a police patrol car were seen keeping watch over the area this afternoon and as of 7pm, there were no peddlers or groups at ...