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No plans for Bayern to party at Mainz, says Robben Posted: 20 Mar 2014 08:22 AM PDT March 20, 2014 Winger Arjen Robben (pic) says Bayern Munich have no plans to celebrate at Mainz 05 on Saturday, even if they are confirmed champions with a record eight Bundesliga matches to spare. Bayern hold a massive 23-point lead in the Bundesliga and will be confirmed champions if they win at fifth-placed Mainz 05 and both rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 lose on Saturday. No Bundesliga side has ever been crowned champions as early as March and Bayern are set to beat their own record, set last season, of winning the title with six matches to spare. Bayern are unbeaten in their last 50 Bundesliga matches, dating back to October 2012, and have won all of their last 17 league matches. But with Bayern having reached the German Cup semi-finals and the last eight of the Champions League, Robben insists the Bavarian giants have other priorities other than celebrating in Mainz if results go their way. "The party won't last long. We still have too many games ahead of us," said Robben in Thursday's press conference. "This week has been reasonably quiet, but it won't last. We have a game every two or three days coming up and the focus is on the Champions League." Bayern are eager to become the first team to defend the Champions League title, having won last May's final 2-1 against German rivals Dortmund to become European champions for the fifth time. Robben has said Bayern will not be travelling to Mainz expecting to win the title as they need both Dortmund and Schalke to either lose or draw against mid-table Hanover 96 and bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig respectively. "I'm not assuming we'll do it as early as Saturday and it's the same feeling in the team," said Robben. "I don't expect both Dortmund and Schalke will lose or draw." Even if results do not go Bayern's way on Saturday, Pep Guardiola's side can still be confirmed league champions on Tuesday in their Bundesliga match at Hertha Berlin. "We will be champions, but exactly when is secondary," said Bayern's attacking midfielder Toni Kroos. It has long been just a matter of time before Bayern are confirmed German champions for the 24th time. Robben says they need to keep winning to maintain their form for the Champions League with Bayern also bidding to become the first team to go through an entire Bundesliga season unbeaten. "We need to maintain the pace and rhythm to prepare us well for Europe," said the Dutch winger. Meanwhile, captain Phillip Lahm has said Bayern's best season is yet to come with a host of their own Bundesliga records set to be broken this season. "We had a super year in 2013 and I think it won't be our best," the 30-year-old told the Muenchner Merkur newspaper. "It's nice to know that when we produce our top performance, we are difficult to beat. "We have each game in our own hands and with the confidence of last year's success that makes us stronger. "That can make a big difference when we meet teams who are at the same level as us." – AFP, March 20, 2014.

No plans for Bayern Munich to party at Mainz, says Robben Posted: 20 Mar 2014 08:22 AM PDT March 20, 2014 Winger Arjen Robben (pic) says Bayern Munich have no plans to celebrate at Mainz 05 on Saturday, even if they are confirmed champions with a record eight Bundesliga matches to spare. Bayern hold a massive 23-point lead in the Bundesliga and will be confirmed champions if they win at fifth-placed Mainz 05 and both rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 lose on Saturday. No Bundesliga side has ever been crowned champions as early as March and Bayern are set to beat their own record, set last season, of winning the title with six matches to spare. Bayern are unbeaten in their last 50 Bundesliga matches, dating back to October 2012, and have won all of their last 17 league matches. But with Bayern having reached the German Cup semi-finals and the last eight of the Champions League, Robben insists the Bavarian giants have other priorities other than celebrating in Mainz if results go their way. "The party won't last long. We still have too many games ahead of us," said Robben in Thursday's press conference. "This week has been reasonably quiet, but it won't last. We have a game every two or three days coming up and the focus is on the Champions League." Bayern are eager to become the first team to defend the Champions League title, having won last May's final 2-1 against German rivals Dortmund to become European champions for the fifth time. Robben has said Bayern will not be travelling to Mainz expecting to win the title as they need both Dortmund and Schalke to either lose or draw against mid-table Hanover 96 and bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig respectively. "I'm not assuming we'll do it as early as Saturday and it's the same feeling in the team," said Robben. "I don't expect both Dortmund and Schalke will lose or draw." Even if results do not go Bayern's way on Saturday, Pep Guardiola's side can still be confirmed league champions on Tuesday in their Bundesliga match at Hertha Berlin. "We will be champions, but exactly when is secondary," said Bayern's attacking midfielder Toni Kroos. It has long been just a matter of time before Bayern are confirmed German champions for the 24th time. Robben says they need to keep winning to maintain their form for the Champions League with Bayern also bidding to become the first team to go through an entire Bundesliga season unbeaten. "We need to maintain the pace and rhythm to prepare us well for Europe," said the Dutch winger. Meanwhile, captain Phillip Lahm has said Bayern's best season is yet to come with a host of their own Bundesliga records set to be broken this season. "We had a super year in 2013 and I think it won't be our best," the 30-year-old told the Muenchner Merkur newspaper. "It's nice to know that when we produce our top performance, we are difficult to beat. "We have each game in our own hands and with the confidence of last year's success that makes us stronger. "That can make a big difference when we meet teams who are at the same level as us." – AFP, March 20, 2014.

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Crowe and ‘Noah’ filmmakers attend papal audience Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:16 PM PDT March 20, 2014 Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead his Wednesday general audience at St Peter's Square at the Vatican yesterday. – Reuters pic, March 20, 2014.Hollywood's Russell Crowe, star of the big budget biblical epic "Noah", attended Pope Francis's general audience in St Peter's Square yesterday, but did not get the pontiff to agree to a screening of the film. The actor famed for playing a Roman gladiator in Ridley Scott's 2000 film tweeted pictures of himself at the audience with the makers of the blockbuster, appearing pleased to be back in "a city where they treat me like a prodigal son". "Ciao Roma, my love for your eternal light just grows deeper. Thank you holy father for the blessing," he said on Twitter. Paramount, the studios behind the film, had reportedly been hoping to arrange a screening of the film and private audience for the makers with the pope, but Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said he had no knowledge of the request. The film has already angered some Christian institutions in the United States, with Crowe's reportedly unconventional portrayal of the pre-flood patriarch. Egypt's top Islamic body has also slammed it as irreligious and said it should not be screened in the country. "Noah", which also stars Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins and Jennifer Connelly, is released in the United States on March 28. The huge success of the film "Gladiator" saw a spike in the number of visitors to Rome's Colosseum, from one million people a year, to around six million. – AFP, March 20, 2014.

New York coroner confirms L’Wren Scott’s suicide Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:06 PM PDT March 20, 2014 A lone bouquet of flowers sits on the ground outside the apartment building of designer L'Wren Scott in the Manhattan borough of New York, March 17, 2014. – Reuters pic, March 20, 2014.Mick Jagger's long-term girlfriend L'Wren Scott committed suicide by hanging, New York coroners confirmed yesterday. Scott, 49, a former model turned fashion designer, was found dead in her luxury apartment in Manhattan on Monday. Following an autopsy carried out on Tuesday, the New York coroner's office confirmed what had been widely reported since news of Scott's death broke. "Decedent: L'Wren Scott. Cause of death: Hanging. Manner of death: Suicide," a coroner's office spokeswoman confirmed to AFP by email. Jagger, 70, is reported to have travelled to New York following Scott's death, which forced the indefinite postponement of the Rolling Stones's tour of Australia and New Zealand. The veteran rocker on Tuesday said he was "struggling to understand" why Scott, who he had been dating for well over a decade, would take her own life. It has emerged that Scott's fashion design business was millions of dollars in debt at the time of her death. A spokesman for Jagger has dismissed a report in the New York Post tabloid which said the rocker had recently broken up with Scott. "This is a complete and utter fabrication and a result of ill-informed gossip at this tragic time for Mick. It is absurd and not true," Jagger's spokesman Bernard Doherty said. – AFP, March 20, 2014.

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Weird ‘chicken from hell’ dinosaur lived alongside T. Rex Posted: 19 Mar 2014 08:58 PM PDT March 20, 2014 Scientists identified a dinosaur called Anzu wyliei yesterday from fossils found in North Dakota and South Dakota. – Reuters pic, March 20, 2014.If you're a dinosaur with a nickname as funky as "the chicken from hell," you had better be able to back it up. A dinosaur called Anzu wyliei that scientists identified yesterday from fossils found in North Dakota and South Dakota does just that. It had a head shaped like a bird's, a toothless beak, an odd crest on its cranium, hands with big sharp claws, long legs for fast running and was probably covered in feathers. It is the largest North American example of a type of bird-like dinosaur well known from Asia. Its extensive remains offer a detailed picture of the North American branch of these dinosaurs that had remained mysterious since their first bones were found about a century ago, the scientists said. What would someone think if they encountered this creature that lived 66 million years ago? "I don't know whether they would scream and run away, or laugh, because it is just an absurd-looking monster chicken," said University of Utah palaeontologist Emma Schachner, one of the researchers. Anzu wyliei measured about 3.5m long, 1.5 m tall at the hip and weighed about 200 to 300 kg, the researchers said. "It has the nickname 'the chicken from hell.' And that's a pretty good description," said palaeontologist Matt Lamanna of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, who led the research published in the journal Plos One. "If you could get in a time machine and go back to Western North America at the end of the age of dinosaurs and see this thing, I would say your first reaction might be, 'What a weird looking bird,'" Lamanna added. "It would not look like most people's conception of a dinosaur." Scientists think birds arose much earlier from small feathered dinosaurs. The earliest known bird is 150 million years old. This dinosaur's bird-like traits included a beak, hollow leg bones and air spaces in its backbone, said palaeontologist Hans-Dieter Sues of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. Its bizarre head crest resembled that of the cassowary, a flightless bird native to Australia and New Guinea. Fossils of feathers are extremely rare and they were not found with any of the three partial skeletons of Anzu wyliei. But the researchers believe it had feathers based on fossils of close relatives from China that have clear evidence of them. Asian cousins It closely resembles its Asian cousins like Oviraptor, whose fossils have been found brooding over a clutch of its eggs in a bird-like manner. The Asian part of the family includes many well-preserved examples, from ones as small as a turkey to one even bigger than Anzu wyliei. The North American branch until now had been represented by largely fragmentary remains. Anzu wyliei lived at the sunset of the age of dinosaurs, not long before an enormous meteorite is thought to have struck Earth about 65.5 million years ago and wiped them out along with hordes of other creatures, while sparing many birds. It lived in a humid, warm, low-lying environment dotted with rivers and swamps that may have looked like the Louisiana bayou. It was lush with vegetation and plant-eating dinosaurs like the horned Triceratops, armored Ankylosaurus, dome-headed Pachycephalosaurus and duck-billed Edmontosaurus. But also hanging around the neighbourhood was one of the fiercest predators in Earth's history, Tyrannosaurus rex. Anzu wyliei may have been an omnivore, munching on leaves, fruits or flowers while also swallowing the occasional mammal foolish enough to cross its path, the researchers said. It probably needed to be careful not to end up on someone else's menu. "To a T. rex, this thing would not look like a 'chicken from hell.' It would look like lunch," Lamanna said. Its genus name, Anzu, is named after a feathered demon in Sumerian mythology. Its species name, wyliei, honours the grandson of a trustee of the Carnegie museum in Pittsburgh where the lead researcher works. The three sets of bones – which together included almost all parts of the skeleton – come from a region famed for dinosaur remains known as the Hell Creek Formation of the Dakotas and Montana. Two of the three sets of remains had partially healed injuries, perhaps the remnants of a couple of dinosaur tussles. – Reuters, March 20, 2014.

Ukraine’s citizen army at forefront of media war Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:52 PM PDT March 20, 2014 An armed man, believed to be a Russian serviceman, stands guard outside a Ukrainian military base in Perevalnoye, near the Crimean city of Simferopol, yesterday. – Reuters pic, March 20, 2014.As the conflict between Ukraine and Russia escalates to a "military stage" after Moscow's move to claim the Black Sea region of Crimea, hundreds of Ukrainians have mobilised to fight the battle on another front – the media. Journalists, advertising executives and students have signed up as volunteers to join a propaganda war against Russia, which they accuse of deliberately misleading the public using wide-reaching state-controlled news agencies, television channels and newspapers. "Ukraine has been losing the war that's being waged in the media. Russians have been very consciously, deliberately pursuing the strategy of misinforming the worldwide community," Yaryna Klyuchkovska, one of the coordinators of the recently established Ukraine Crisis Media Centre, told AFP. "Our weapon is information... We need to mobilise to provide a counterweight," added her colleague Oxana Melnychuk. The centre set up by PR and advertising executives holds daily news conferences with ministers and activists, and publishes analyses that counter the Russian point of view. Another group of mostly journalists and students have meanwhile created a fact-checking website called StopFake.org that examines official statements and news reports, and if necessary, sets the record straight. Both information resources quickly gained a wide following in the social media sphere, acquiring a reputation like that of EuromaidanPR - the official voice of the protests that broke out in Kiev in November and led to the ouster of pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych. Russian troops subseqently took control of Crimea, and on Tuesday Putin signed a treaty absorbing the flashpoint peninsula, while Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk warned that "the conflict is shifting from a political to a military stage". Yevhen Fedchenko, who is director of Kiev's Mohyla School of Journalism and one of the coordinators of StopFake.org, said the aim of the website is to fill the "total vacuum of information" from the new Ukrainian authorities. Hundreds of volunteers now monitor, verify and translate official statements and media reports, filling in for a government still finding its way after just four weeks on the job. Among Moscow's "propaganda" claims the Ukrainian volunteers are attempting to clarify are charges that extremists and "Nazis" are running amok in Ukraine. Russian media also regularly misuse pictures and video footage to depict tensions where none exist, they said. "It's just a drop in the ocean... (but) it's important that people in Ukraine and Russia and in the West get these messages straight," Fedchenko said. Though there is no official funding, companies and individuals are keeping the effort alive by contributing computers, televisions or simply coffee to keep volunteers going. "We're not paid a single penny, but we're all patriots, we do understand the responsibility of the moment," said Sergiy Malyarchuk, who coordinates the Crisis Media Centre's interpreters. "War is war. You don't ask questions, you just see a need and you step in," said freelance PR consultant Klyuchkovska. Some have taken time off from work to volunteer, while others were idling anyway because of the unrest in Ukraine, like Malyarchuk, whose plastic recycling business "stopped for a while". "There's no sense going to work and doing nothing. I can contribute much more down here," he said. Support comes from around the world. StopFake.org receives 100 alerts a day from Internet users flagging up reports that need to be corrected, while some of EuromaidanPR's 200 contributors are based abroad. Rather curiously, they have found a following among Russians and Russian-speakers in Ukraine – most influenced by Kremlin-loyal media. StopFake.org has received one million clicks in just a few weeks and has nearly 7,800 followers on Russia's biggest social network website VKontakte - 10 times as many as on Facebook. "The bulk of our audience is now coming from Russia," said Fedchenko, convinced that the initiatives were making people more aware of media manipulation. The "volunteer army" has also pledged to remain in the trenches for a while. "It did not start with Crimea and it will not stop with Crimea," said Fedchenko. "The necessity of doing this ... will be around for many years." – AFP, March 20, 2014.

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Prize-winning African poet seeks to reclaim the Sahara Posted: 19 Mar 2014 09:19 PM PDT March 20, 2014 Headlines portray the Sahara as a barren desert that claims the lives of many African migrants but Nigerian poet Tade Ipadeola had a different story to tell – and it was worth $100,000 (RM329, 300). Ipadeola's "The Sahara Testaments" won the most lucrative writing award in Africa, the Nigeria Prize for Literature, for his account of the history and culture of the world's largest desert. He said the Sahara's true richness has been distorted by horrific tragedies involving migrants who have been found dead in north Africa after a failed attempt to start a new life in Europe. In October, the bodies of 87 people, most of them children and some eaten by jackals, were found in Niger after dying of thirst in scorching temperatures while travelling north towards Algeria. That tragedy came just weeks after a shipwreck disaster off the Italian island of Lampedusa, which saw 366 Africans perish when their boat caught fire and capsized. Before boarding the boat, many of the migrants had to cross parts of the Sahara, which measures some 4,800km east to west and 800 to 1,200 miles north to south. But Ipadeola told AFP: "I wanted to show that it is not just a barren wasteland. "The Sahara was the prime location for some of the greatest literature in the world," said the 43-year-old poet, referencing several writers from the region, including St Augustine, the 4th century philosopher born in modern-day Algeria. "The Sahara Testaments" touches on the desert's history, the impact of climate change, personal stories as well as some political criticism and satire. Ipadeola targets the energy companies which he says have permanently disrupted life for the region's indigenous people. Despite his harsh criticism of the oil and gas sector, he applauded the sponsor of the Nigeria prize, Nigeria Liquified and Natural Gas, for giving him the honour above the 200 other applicants. Quitting his day job Ipadeola, who trained as a lawyer, said he began work on "The Sahara Testaments" eight years ago. He tried to write in the afternoons and evenings after spending the days practising law in the south-western Nigerian city of Ibadan. Having realised that he would never finish the collection as long as he was working in law, he said he cashed in his savings and set out to explore the desert. He went from Mauritania to Egypt, staying with friends and acquaintances, meeting everyone he could, from Tuaregs in northern Mali to market traders in Egypt. His research was hampered by the Arab Spring revolts which swept across the region from Tunisia in December 2010, making some places too dangerous to visit. "I couldn't touch Libya at all," Ipadeola said, referring to the 2011-2012 civil war that toppled the country's leader Muammar Gaddafi. Even though his work focused on the rich life of the Sahara, he nonetheless hoped that "The Sahara Testaments" would raise awareness about the unsustainable flow of Africans into Europe. "Europe cannot contain the influx," he said. "Europeans are becoming increasingly xenophobic. It is a really explosive mix. "The failure of African leadership" was ultimately to blame for the heartbreaking accounts of migrants perishing, he argued, chastising politicians who have both failed to provide opportunities for their people and failed to stop them from embarking on borderline suicidal journeys. "The bulk of those who leave," he said, "are oblivious to the dangers of trying to cross that amount of distance in one of the hottest places on earth." – AFP, March 20, 2014.

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A tale of two managers or how to play off the media Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:05 PM PDT March 20, 2014 As a player, Shebby Singh won everything there was to win in Malaysia football, and represented the country on the international stage. Terror Tim So, the "poor" treatment of millionaire footballers, in the shape of Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood demonstrating his frustration on the touch line, is inappropriate according to some in the media? I beg to differ. A handful of these millionaire footballers apparently have to be treated with caution, even when they are conning the world by not being able to make a 10-yard pass to a team-mate. Who doesn't want to play for Spurs if that is the case? Sherwood's reactions were one borne of frustration and disbelief; frustration in that his team were consistently carved up whenever Arsenal advanced with the ball (early in the first half), and disbelief at the sheer inadequacy of play at hand. One would be a fool to argue against the fact that Sherwood's sides have always come out far stronger in the second half than the first, and that surely comes down to the manager putting his foot down the throats of a few meandering players. The Tottenham squad are at the crossroads this season. Expensive signings were made and the previous manager attempted (and failed) to sew together a cohesive team with those signings, was subsequently sacked, and now Sherwood is in charge. His philosophy for using youth team products is admirable, though much of what he can do is patchwork. There is no glue that holds this team together, as a mere few seasons ago Spurs could boast of Luka Modric, Rafael Van Der Vaart and Gareth Bale as among the three midfielders in attack. Today? Well, Nabil Bentaleb, Nacer Chadli and Andros Townsend carry that mantle. Yet, still being in with a shout for Champions League qualification next season is a moral victory. But how much value such victories hold in football is up to the directors themselves. Referee Mourinho The decision has been made by the football authorities... Jose Mourinho will pick the referees for future Chelsea games. Here is a man who has tried (and succeeded) to ruin the careers of decent referees and pretty much gotten away with it. In March 2005, accusations of bias spewed from Jose's mouth as he insisted Anders Frisk and then Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard had a meeting at half-time in a UEFA Champions League tie between Chelsea and Barcelona (breaking FIFA rules), though no proof came out of it (a true politician in the making possibly). Nevertheless, Mourinho's loyal brigade of supporters (namely Chelsea hooligans) came out of the woodwork, bombarding Frisk with death threats causing the Swedish referee to retire prematurely shortly after. Mourinho arrived on the big stage of football as an intelligent, tactically astute young man clearly on the verge of making a football transformation. He has more recently reduced himself to an aging individual whose favourite pastime is whinging and being hypocritical. But Shebby, you ask, aren't most managers hypocrites when it comes to decisions made on the field? From Arsene Wenger's "I did not see the incident" to the countless "I'll need to look at the replay, as I did not have a clear view of the incident" excuses being spewed out daily, managers innately feel the need to defend the actions of their players. After all, the manager is essentially all that stands between a poor performance and a royal shellacking in the press. Mourinho has mastered the art of drawing media attention away from his players, and unto himself – forever endearing him to his players (thus his famous man-management skills). He can, and will always, point to the number of trophies he has won (and he has won a few). However, the legacy he has left behind at his previous clubs is non-existent. Inter Milan fell into disrepair as Mourinho conveniently decided against any form of long-term development in favour of a win-now mentality. His Italian exploits decidedly paid off in the short-term - Inter turning from Champions League winners to no European football in less than five years. Then, after Mourinho took over Real Madrid, the Spanish giants garnered a new reputation for kicking any Barcelona player that moves, with the Portuguese doing his part off-field too, infamously poking then backroom staff Tito Villanova in the eye. I feel a tinge of disappointment, however, as it seems more and more that Mourinho is comfortable with coaching just enough to ensure victory, and would rather spend far more time playing the media game. Case in point, Didier Drogba. The love-in between the two when Chelsea met Galatasaray for their Champions League clashes verged on erotic; waxing lyrical about management skills (Drogba to Mourinho) and striker's instinct (Mourinho to Drogba). It would certainly seem like all that emotion had psyched poor Drogba out – he was non-existent over three hours of play. Alas, life goes on and Mourinho will gladly talk up the next former player he has coached if it ensures their complete anonymity over the course of a game. Chelsea secure progress against the Turkish side which, despite knocking out a shellshocked Juventus side in the group stages, always looked like walkovers for any team lucky enough to face them. Will the Blues enjoy such comfort in the Champions League quarterfinals? Well, even if they don't, they can always blame UEFA and the way the draw is made. If that doesn't stand, I'm sure Mourinho will still find a way to blame someone. – March 20, 2014. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Kekuatan peribadi Wan Azizah taruhan di Kajang Posted: 19 Mar 2014 04:27 PM PDT March 20, 2014 Shukur mempunyai lebih 30 tahun pengalaman sebagai wartawan dan bekerja dengan pelbagai media. Beliau kini pencen tetapi menjadi pemerhati politik yang tegar. Hari mengundi Pilihan Raya Kecil Kajang 23 Mac ini dijangka akan menentukan berapa besar majoriti kemenangan calon PRK/Pakatan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail yang akan menghantar indikasi sokongan pengundi kepada Pakatan Rakyat. Maka itu PRK Kajang secara tidak lansung akan menjadi referendum rakyat, menentukan pemilihan rakyat dan sebesar mana sokongan mereka kepada Pakatan. Tidak mustahil pengundi akan memberikan undi simpati yang besar kepada Dr Wan Azizah di samping undi berasaskan kekuatan peribadi calon PKR/Pakatan itu sendiri. Calon Barisan Nasional dari Wanita MCA ialah Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun juga menarik perhatian. Kira-kira 50% daripada kira-kira 39,000 pengundi DUN Kajang adalah wanita. Tentunya ini menarik perhatian ramai memandangkan dengan berlakunya pertarungan dua wanita ini. Menurut suatu tinjauan, Dr Wan Azizah dilihat akan mendapat sokongan kuat dari pengunci Cina di Kajang ini, walaupun calon BN adalah dari MCA. Sementara pengundi Melayu di beberapa kampung tradisi di kawasan ini, menurut pemerhati, dilihat sudah wujud perubahan dan dijangka mereka akan memberikan undi simpati kepada Dr Wan Azizah. Memang tidak dapat dinafikan bahawa Dr Wan Azizah adalah bayangan suaminya, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim – matlamat perjuangannya, cita-cita dan harapannya, ketabahan dan kesabarannya. Saya mengenal wanita solehah ini, hampir 30 tahun lalu, ketika mengunjungi Anwar di pejabat Abim di Pantai Baru berhampiran Universiti Malaya dan makan di Restoran Amjal dengan orang Abim dengan bayaran "harga special". Kerana itu, setiap kali saya lalu di situ, teringat Pejabat Abim dan Restoran Amjal di mana Anwar menjadi "pelanggan tetap" di restoran tersebut.  Ketika Anwar menyewa rumah dekat surau Subang Jaya, beberapa tahun sebelum Masjid Darul Ehsan Subang Jaya dibina diawal tahun 80-an, sebanyak sedikit atas bantuan Anwar juga, saya beberapa kali berkunjung kerumahnya dan Dr Wan Azizah sering memimpin Nurul Izzah yang ketika itu berumur 4 tahun. Beberapa ketika kemudian, Anwar menyertai Umno. Di sini, saya tidak hendak melanjutkan cerita ini kerana saya menganggap ini adalah episode kelabu, tetapi saya masih menyimpan keyakinan bahawa Anwar tidak merobah prinsip perjuangannya. Kini Dr Wan Azizah menjadi calon PKR/Pakatan dalam PRK Kajang dan saya yakin beliau yang akan dibantu oleh suaminya akan meneruskan cita-cita DS Anwar walau apapun yang terjadi nanti. Ketabahan, kesabaran dan kecekalan Dr Wan Azizah serta keluarganya menghadapi ujian getir selama 15 tahun ketika Anwar ditahan, dipukul, dihina dan disumbat ke dalam Penjara Sungai Buluh menjadikan wanita solehah ini wanita luar biasa kerana telah berjaya berdepan dengan ujian berat seumpama ini. Ketika saya bertemu dengannya di malam kempen di Taman Mesra minggu lalu, saya melihat Dr Wan Azizah masih berdiri sebagai wanita yang sangat tabah, berucap dengan suara lembut dan penuh tabah, menerangkan misi perjuangannya di masa depan bersama PKR/Pakatan Rakyat sama ada Anwar masih di luar atau sudah di dalam. Anwar dan Dr Wan Azizah dan anak-anaknya adalah keluarga perjuangan, bukan keluarga biasa yang hanya memikirkan keselesaan malah kekayaan keluarga semata-mata. Maka itu, misi calon PKR/Pakatan Rakyat ini yang hendak memperjuangkan hak rakyat dalam seluruh kempennya adalah datang dari lubuk hatinya, bukan semata-mata berupa janji politik. Sebab itu, pengundi di PRK Kajang pada 23 Mac ini, saya yakin akan memberikan kemenangan kepada Dr Wan Azizah. Maka pada pendapat saya, kemenangan itu, Insya-Allah, adalah kemenangan rakyat, bukan saja rakyat di Kajang, tetapi juga rakyat Malaysia seluruhnya. Mengapa saya menyatakan demikian? Menurut analisis, DUN Kajang adalah sebuah kawasan urban (bandar) maka lazimnya pengundi tidak memerlukan seorang "pegawai kebajikan masyarakat" sebagai wakil mereka. Pengundi dalam bandar dan kawasan semi-urban mengikut sejarah inginkan "jurucakap" di DUN Selangor yang credible dan berpengaruh; seorang yang berpotensi memimpin negeri atau duduk dalam Kabinet Negeri Selangor (Exco). Bagi pendapat mereka yang pro-Pakatan, jika Dr Wan Azizah menang, maka ia adalah isyarat bahawa rakyat menolak BN kerana kesilapan mereka dalam usaha menjaga hak rakyat. Kemenangan ini jika berlaku, maka ia dianggap sebagai kesediaan untuk memenangi Putrajaya pada pilihanraya umum akan datang. Dr Wan Azizah dilahirkan pada 3 Disember 1952 di Hospital Kandang Kerbau, Singapura, ketika itu Singapura masih sebahagian Tanah Melayu.  Dr Wan Azizah mendapat pendidikan awal di Sekolah Konvent St Nicholas, Alor Star. Beliau kemudiannya meneruskan pengajian ke Kolej Tunku Kurshiah di Seremban. Seterusnya beliau melanjutkan pelajaran ke Dublin, Ireland (1973), di mana beliau mendapat ijazah dalam idang obstetrik dan ginekologi. Di university itu, beliau dianugerah pingat emas "MacNoughton-Jones Gold Medal".  Sekembalinya ke Malaysia, beliau menjadi seorang doktor pakar oftalmologi di Hospital Besar Kuala Lumpur dan di Hospital Universiti, Universiti Malaya. Dr Wan Azizah telah berhenti daripada kerjayanya dalam tahun 1993 apabila suaminya dilantik menjadi timbalan perdana menteri. Beliau adalah pengasas Parti Keadilan Nasional 1999 selepas suaminya dipenjarakan atas kes liwat. Beliau kini berumur 62 tahun dan menjadi presiden PKR sejak 2003 dan menenangi pilihan raya parlimen Permatang Pauh pada 1999 dan menduduki kerusi itu hingga PRU 2008 di mana kemudiannya Anwar bertanding di kawasan itu pada tahun tersebut dan menang. Kini pengundi Kajang mendapati kedudukannya sangat luar biasa, menjadi perhatian pelbagai pihak – dalam dan luar negeri. Apabila orang mengingat dan bercakap mengenai kezaliman terhadap Anwar selama 15 tahun, orang akan mengingat isterinya, Dr Wan Azizah, wanita solehah yang "mewakili" suaminya dalam PRK Kajang nanti. Saya yakin, jika menang nanti, Dr Wan Azizah akan berperanan untuk sama-sama memperkukuh lagi Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat Negeri Selangor. Bahkan lebih dari itu akan mengambil peranan penting membina lebuh raya ke koridor kuasa Puterajaya. Ini tidak mustahil akan berlaku. Para pengundi Kajang, terimalah Dr Wan Azizah! – 20 Mac, 2014.

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Keputusan permohonan Rafizi, lima lagi ketepi pertuduhan pada 30 April Posted: 20 Mar 2014 03:00 AM PDT March 20, 2014 Mahkamah Tinggi menetapkan 30 April ini bagi keputusan permohonan Anggota Parlimen Pandan Rafizi Ramli (gambar), sekreteriat Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Muhammad Adib Ishar dan empat aktivis pembangkang untuk mengetepikan pertuduhan terhadap mereka mengikut Akta Perhimpunan Aman 2012. Hakim Amelia Tee Hong Geok Abdullah menetapkan tarikh itu selepas mendengar hujahan pendakwa raya dan peguam-peguam. Pendakwaan diwakili Timbalan Pendakwa Raya Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, peguam N Surendran mewakili Rafizi dan Muhammad Adib manakala peguam Eric Paulsen pula mewakili empat aktivis pembangkang iaitu bekas pelajar Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris, Adam Adli Abdul Halim, 26, pengerusi Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) Muhammad Safuan Anang@Talib, 25, sekreteriat SMM Ekhsan Bukharee Badarul Hisham, 23, dan Presiden Persatuan Islam Universiti Malaya Mohamed Bukhari Mohamed Sufian, 24. Dalam permohonan itu, Rafizi dan Muhammad Adib serta Adam Adli, Muhammad Safuan, Ekhsan Bukharee dan Mohamed Bukhari memohon pertuduhan terhadap mereka diketepikan dan prosiding di Mahkamah Sesyen digantung sehingga prosiding pendengaran permohonan di Mahkamah Tinggi selesai. Pada 24 Julai tahun lepas, Rafizi, 37, dan Muhammad Adib, 25, didakwa menganjurkan perhimpunan tanpa mematuhi syarat Ketua Polis Dang Wangi ACP Zainuddin Ahmad iaitu memperoleh persetujuan Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) untuk menggunakan Padang Merbok. Mereka didakwa melakukan kesalahan itu di Padang Merbok, Jalan Parlimen di sini antara 2 dan 6 petang pada 22 Jun lepas mengikut Seksyen 15(3) Akta Perhimpunan Aman 2012 yang membawa hukuman maksimum denda RM10,000 jika sabit kesalahan. Bagi pertuduhan pilihan, sebagai penganjur, mereka didakwa gagal menyertakan salinan persetujuan DBKL bertarikh 12 Jun 2013, iaitu 10 hari sebelum perhimpunan diadakan kepada Zainuddin dan didakwa mengikut Seksyen 9(1) Akta Perhimpunan Aman 2012 dan boleh dihukum mengikut Seksyen 9(5) akta sama yang membawa hukuman maksimum denda RM10,000 jika sabit kesalahan. Sementara itu, Adam Adli, Muhammad Safuan, Ekhsan Bukharee dan Mohamed Bukhari didakwa menyertai perhimpunan itu di tempat larangan iaitu dalam pekarangan Masjid Ar-Rahman Universiti Malaya antara 12 tengah hari dan 1.15 petang pada hari sama. Mereka didakwa mengikut Seksyen 4(2)(b) Akta Perhimpunan Aman 2012 dan boleh dihukum mengikut Seksyen 4(3) akta sama yang membawa hukuman denda maksimum RM20,000 jika sabit kesalahan. - Bernama, 20 Mac, 2014.

Khairy bawa isu salah guna dadah kalangan belia kepada Kabinet esok Posted: 20 Mar 2014 02:54 AM PDT March 20, 2014 Menteri Belia dan Sukan (KBS) Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar (gambar) akan membawa isu penyalahgunaan dadah dalam kalangan belia kepada Jemaah Menteri esok, susulan kematian enam orang akibat mengambil dadah berlebihan pada satu konsert di sini minggu lepas. Khairy berkata perkara itu perlu diketengahkan kepada kabinet bagi mempergiat usaha memberi kesedaran dan pendidikan kepada golongan belia mengenai penyalahgunaan dadah. "Kita bukan sahaja mahu melihat dari segi penganjuran konsert tetapi juga perkara pokok iaitu kesedaran dan pendidikan yang perlu diberikan kepada generasi muda berkaitan dengan penyalahgunaan dadah terutamanya apabila dicantumkan dengan acara-acara hiburan. "Bukan kita ingin menghalang penganjuran mana-mana konsert tetapi saya harap perkara ini (penyalahgunaan dadah) dapat dikawal," katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan persidangan Majlis Perundangan Belia Negara Ketiga 2013-2014 di Pusat Belia Antarabangsa di Kuala Lumpur, hari ini. Beliau berkata KBS amat berharap insiden itu, yang turut menyebabkan beberapa lagi belia kritikal kerana pengambilan dadah berlebihan ketika menonton konsert Festival Future Music Asia (FMFA) 2014 di Stadium Bukit Jalil, tidak berulang. Dalam kejadian awal Sabtu lepas, tiga lelaki dan tiga wanita berusia antara 19 dan 28 tahun meninggal dunia manakala 14 lagi dirawat di hospital akibat pengambilan dadah berlebihan. Konsert tiga hari itu, yang bermula Khamis lepas, dibatalkan pada Sabtu berikutan kejadian itu. Dalam perkembangan lain, Khairy berkata kementerian akan memberikan insentif berjumlah RM2,000 kepada mana-mana pertubuhan belia yang berjaya mencapai penarafan lima bintang berdasarkan penilaian oleh Pejabat Pendaftaran Pertubuhan Belia. Sistem penarafan bintang pertubuhan belia yang diperkenalkan tahun lepas merupakan kaedah penilaian terhadap semua pertubuhan belia berdaftar mengikut Akta Pertubuhan dan Pembangunan Belia 2007. "Kita akan mempraktikkan sistem sama pada masa akan datang bagi mana-mana persatuan belia yang menunjukkan prestasi yang baik. Kita akan memberi insentif berbentuk peruntukan tambahan supaya persatuan dapat menjalankan program dirangka," katanya. Persidangan sehari itu yang dihadiri perwakilan KBS, Majlis Belia Malaysia (MBM) dan Suruhanjaya Koperasi Malaysia itu antara lain membincangkan kajian hasil makmal kos sara hidup oleh MBM serta penyertaan belia dalam pertubuhan koperasi di negara ini. - Bernama, 20 Mac, 2014.

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