At least 250 injured as Yemen police disperse protest

SANAA - YEMEN police fired tear gas and live bullets at protesters holding an anti-regime demonstration in the city of Taez on Sunday, injuring at least 250, witnesses said.

'Between 250 and 300 protesters were injured, some with live bullets, as police opened fire to disperse a protest heading to the governorate headquarters,' in the city that lies 200km south of the capital Sanaa, a witness said.

Police continued to fire as security forces pushed back demonstrators to a square where they have been holding a sit-in as part of nationwide protests demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down, witnesses said.

A member of parliament who did not want to be named charged that police were 'attempting to storm the sit-in square.' -- AFP

Thailand rejects foreign election monitors

It would be 'inappropriate' to allow outside involvement in the poll, which is due in June or July and comes after deadly street protests last year, said Suthep Thaugsuban. -- PHOTO: AFP

BANGKOK - THAILAND on Thursday dismissed suggestions that foreign observers were needed to monitor its upcoming election, with the deputy prime minister saying he does 'not respect' Westerners.

It would be 'inappropriate' to allow outside involvement in the poll, which is due in June or July and comes after deadly street protests last year, said Suthep Thaugsuban.

'I don't respect 'farangs'. We do not have to surrender to them,' he said, using the Thai word for 'Westerners'.

Thailand has never officially allowed election monitors to operate during its polls, but anti-government 'Red Shirts' have recently called for international observers to be present.

'I am surprised that Red Shirts do not respect our country's sovereignty... I don't understand why they constantly call for foreign involvement, it is inappropriate,' Mr Suthep told reporters.

The kingdom is struggling to recover from mass Bangkok rallies by the Reds, in which more than 90 people died in clashes between troops and protesters in April and May last year. It was the worst political violence in decades. -- AFP

Senior Minister S. Jayakumar will retire from politics

Professor Jayakumar, 71, told reporters on Thursday evening that he will not be standing as a PAP candidate in the coming General Election. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN

SENIOR Minister S. Jayakumar will retire from politics after 31 years.

Professor Jayakumar, 71, told reporters on Thursday evening that he will not be standing as a PAP candidate in the coming General Election.

Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi, 66, also announced he will retire from politics after 26 years, at the same press conference in his Siglap branch.

Also present was labour chief and Minister in the Prime Minister's office Lim Swee Say, 56, who will lead the East Coast GRC team at the coming General Election. He now leads the team in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

Sembawang GRC MP Maliki Osman will also move to join the East Coast GRC team.

The other MPs in the team are Transport Minister Raymond Lim, Ministerof State Lee Yi Shyan and MP Jessica Tan.

Veteran Taiwan politician joins presidential race

Su Tseng-chang, 63 (above), will face off against Democratic Progressive Party leader Tsai Ing-wen in what is expected to be a tight race ahead of next March's general election against President Ma Ying-jeou of the ruling Nationalists. -- PHOTO: AP

TAIPEI - A VETERAN Taiwanese politician who once served as premier announced on Tuesday he will seek the nomination of the main opposition party to run for president.

Su Tseng-chang, 63, will face off against Democratic Progressive Party leader Tsai Ing-wen in what is expected to be a tight race ahead of next March's general election against President Ma Ying-jeou of the ruling Nationalists.

Mr Ma has made improving relations with China the centerpiece of his administration. He is expected to go into the presidential contest as a slight favourite, regardless of his opponent.

In announcing his presidential bid to supporters in Taipei, Mr Su said Taiwan should maintain its pride in dealing with the mainland, which considers Taiwan part of its territory.

'We can do business with China, but our sovereignty and democracy are not for sale,' he said.

Mr Su served as premier under President Chen Shui-bian from January 2006 to May 2007, stepping down after he lost the 2008 DPP presidential primary battle to Frank Hsieh. He became Mr Hsieh's vice presidential running mate on a ticket that Mr Ma defeated handily. -- AP

Australia not reconsidering sale of uranium

Prime Minister Julia Gillard

SYDNEY - MAJOR producer Australia is not reconsidering its sales of uranium following the nuclear crisis in Japan, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Sunday.

Although Australia uses no nuclear power, it is the world's third-ranking uranium producer behind Kazakhstan and Canada, exporting some 9,600 tonnes of oxide concentrate annually worth over A$1.1 billion (S$1.39 billion).

It also holds the world's largest uranium reserves, with 23 per cent of the total, according to the World Nuclear Association.

Perception of the nuclear industry has been seriously hurt since the Fukushima No. 1 plant in Japan was crippled eight days ago by a massive earthquake and tsunami. But Ms Gillard said it would not affect Australian uranium sales.

'What is happening in Japan doesn't have any impact on my thinking about uranium exports,' she told Sky News. 'We do export uranium and we will continue to export uranium. Countries around the world will make their own choices about how they source their energy.'

Japan is an important customer of Australia, as is China, which last week ordered safety inspections of its nuclear plants and suspended approval of new projects. -- AFP

Indonesia president slams 'character assassination'

Asian Social Politics - BOGOR - INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday said he had been subjected to 'character assassination' over leaked US cables that accused him of abuse of power.

Released by whistleblower WikiLeaks and run in Australian newspapers The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday, the secret documents implied that the US embassy in Jakarta had serious doubts about Yudhoyono's integrity.

'I don't want to be too reactive and emotional,' Mr Yudhoyono told reporters on the sidelines of an international judicial conference in the West Java town of Bogor.

'I will use my rights to get justice in a democratic manner. Later on, we'll surely know who is democratic and who isn't,' he said.

'Also, who impetuously reported and accused and played judge in the mass media, in a diplomacy that has highly discredited the good name of a person, or what can be called character assassination,' he added.

Mr Yudhoyono, a former army general, was elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2009 on the promise he would combat corruption. Indonesia has protested to Washington over the leak. -- AFP

Indonesian coalition rifts will not lead to a cabinet reshuffle

ASIAN SOCIAL POLITIC - JAKARTA - IN A statement that baffled politicians and analysts, State Secretary Sudi Silalahi dismissed rampant speculations on Wednesday that the escalating rifts among members of the ruling coalition would lead to a Cabinet shake-up.

'As of today, the President has never officially stated that a Cabinet reshuffle would happen in the near future. Although, the President previously said that a reshuffle could happen if necessary,' Mr Sudi said at a press conference at the President's office as reported by Antara.

Mr Sudi stressed that the names of people reportedly tipped as candidates for certain ministerial posts did not come from the government. 'The President is still evaluating the performance of all Cabinet members. A change in the Cabinet composition is still possible, though, but based on performance and integrity pacts,' Mr Sudi said.

The statement came only a day after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyno met with Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie. The meeting resulted in a resolution that the Golkar Party would stay in the coalition, though the party had repeatedly taken a contrary stance to the government and allegedly tried to undermine the coalition twice by initiating inquiries into the Bank Century bailout and the rampant tax corruption.

Despite mounting pressure from members of his Democratic Party, Mr Yudhoyono seemed reluctant to expel Golkar and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) from the ruling coalition, though the two parties sided with the opposition in a recent bid at the House of Representatives to establish a legislative inquiry into corruption at the tax office.

The Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), which sided with the Democratic Party in a dramatic vote that ended with Golkar and its allies losing the bid to establish the inquiry team, had been rumored to replace the PKS in the coalition. -- THE JAKARTA POST/ANN

Malaysia's Mahathir writes memoir defending legacy

Former Malayisan Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left) speaking at the Islamic Finance Conference, as Association of Malay Entrepreneurs (Kesuma) president Ibrahim Ariff looks on. Dr Mahathir has released an autobiography that defends decisions made during his 22-year rule. -- ST FILE PHOTO

KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia) - FORMER Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has released an autobiography that defends decisions he made during his 22-year rule.

Dr Mahathir was one of Asia's longest-serving leaders when he retired in 2003. His critics have long accused him of eroding key rights such as free speech and repressing democratic institutions such as the judiciary and media.

The 85-year-old Dr Mahathir wrote in his 800-page memoir that he 'tried his best' but would leave it to 'the people of today and the future to pass judgment' on his legacy.

The book became available on Tuesday and was highly publicised.

MPH, the country's largest bookstore chain, displayed posters that declared Dr Mahathir's memoir was 'set to be the best-selling book of 2011.' -- AP

Workers Party accuses PAP of gerrymandering

Sylvia Lim

Singapore - Workers’ Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim has accused the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) of gerrymandering to gain an unfair advantage from the redrawn electoral map, reported the Straits Times.

Referring to changes in several constituencies the party had been working on as potential battlegrounds since the 2006 General Election, she said: “Over all, we believe there is gerrymandering in the ruling party’s favour,”

One example, she cited, was Aljunied GRC, which lost seven polling districts to Ang Mo Kio GRC and gained six new ones from Marine Parade GRC. She said the WP had enjoyed ’significant support’ in the seven districts that were next to Hougang, the seat held by WP chief Low Thia Khiang.

Further, the estimated number of electors in Aljunied GRC stands at 143,024, compared to 150,839 in 2006, when she led a WP ‘A’ team there that received 43.9 per cent of valid votes.

“As the number of electors under the new Aljunied GRC is not significantly different from those under Aljunied GRC in the last GE, one has to ask – why the changes?” she said via email.

The new electoral map was released on Thursday and will be implemented at the next General Election., which is expected to be anytime soon.

.

Jessie

ACHR: Mubarak and His Regime to Inevitably Be Prosecuted

Chairperson of the Paris-based Arab Commission for Human Rights ACHR), Dr. Violet Dagher, on Wednesday dispatched a fact-finding committee to Cairo to investigate police violence.

Chairperson of the Paris-based Arab Commission for Human Rights ACHR), Dr. Violet Dagher, on Wednesday dispatched a fact-finding committee to Cairo to investigate, in association with the Egyptian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), police violence used against protesters and try the newly-deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

"The Committee is following what is happening in Egypt and we are able to prosecute Mubarak before international courts for crimes committed during his his 30-year rule," Dagher said.

In an exclusive statement to Ikhwanweb, Dagher said that Mubarak's decision to step down was too late, noting that the Egyptian revolution is a very fine thing as the Egyptians made innumerable sacrifices to make the revolution a success.

Dagher hoped that Mubarak's resignation and the military take over was a prelude to a peaceful transfer of power, lifting of the state of emergency and an end to exceptional laws.

Dagher called for the need to document the crimes of the Mubarak regime and prosecute those found to have been involved in it, noting that this is the NGO's role as they will file lawsuits demanding public funds to be regained that were smuggled out of Egypt by corrupt leaders of the ruling party.

Dagher stressed that it is not difficult now to use legal means to hold Mubarak accountable for his abuse of power, especially that most international human rights organizations are currently fully sympathetic with the Egyptian people against him.

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2 Thai security officers killed by bomb, another shot

Buddhist villagers mourn next to the bodies of their slain relatives. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

YALA, Thailand - SUSPECTED Muslim separatists detonated a bomb that killed two security officers in Thailand's restive south and shot another in a separate attack, police said, in the latest escalation of violence in the region.

The killings follow a bloody raid on an army camp, a massive roadside bombing, the execution-style shooting of a Buddhist family and several drive-by attacks in the past two weeks, which analysts believe was a political statement by Malay Muslim rebels seeking autonomy from predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

The intensification of violence comes after the government hailed the success of security operations and public relations campaigns in reducing the number of attacks.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said the government was considering lifting the emergency decree in the region over time despite opposition from the army.

The latest victims were government paramilitary rangers who were patrolling in Yala province on Friday when a roadside bomb went off, police said. A drive-by shooting killed another paramilitary ranger in neighbouring Pattani province late on Thursday.

Yala and Pattani are two of three Muslim-dominated provinces bordering Malaysia where more than 4,300 people, both Muslims and Buddhists, have been killed in a low-level insurgency since 2004. 

Analysts believe the unrest, for which no group has claimed responsibility, is an ethno-nationalist struggle by Malay Muslims who say their identity, language and culture is neither respected nor fully understood by the Thai state. -- REUTERS

Friday: Mubarak's Day of Departure?

CAIRO - EGYPTIAN protesters were massing Friday for sweeping 'Departure Day' demonstrations to force President Hosni Mubarak to quit after he said he would like to step down but fears ensuing chaos.

Thousands who had bunkered down for the night in Cairo's Tahrir Square - focal point of an unprecedented uprising against Mubarak now in its 11th day - were joined from early morning by protesters who began streaming in from across the city, correspondents said.

Opposition leaders have designated Friday as 'Departure Day' for Mubarak and have called for gigantic demonstrations across the nation after the weekly Muslim prayers.

On Tuesday, more than one million people poured onto streets across Egypt demanding the 82-year-old veteran president step down.

Organisers are hoping for even larger numbers on Friday, despite the potential for violence from Mubarak supporters who have been staging counter demonstrations in Cairo that have led to bloody clashes in which at least eight people have been killed and more than 800 hurt. Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq told his interior minister to allow peaceful protests to take place without interference, the official MENA news agency said.

The army has taken little action while the fighting has raged and police are nowhere near Tahrir Square since on Friday last week when they tried to end the demonstrations with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons. The US military's top officer said in Washington, that Egyptian army leaders have 'reassured' him their forces will not fire on protesters. -- AFP

N. Korea parliament seeks talks with South's MPs

SEOUL - NORTH Korea's parliament has called for talks with South Korean legislators to ease high tensions on the peninsula, the communist state's official media said on Thursday.

The Supreme People's Assembly sent the South's parliament a letter on Wednesday suggesting dialogue to defuse the 'acute situation' on the peninsula and end the current 'grave' state of affairs, the North's news agency said.

The two sides are due to meet next Tuesday for working-level military talks, their first contact since the North's deadly bombardment of a South Korean border island on November 23.

The North said it was 'quite natural' for legislators to meet, in addition to the military dialogue.

Relations have been icy since the South in May accused the North of torpedoing a warship with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it denied. The shelling of the island, which killed two marines and two civilians, briefly sparked fears of war. But in a change of tack since the start of the new year, Pyongyang has made numerous calls for dialogue between various bodies. The inter-parliamentary talks were first suggested last week but the South said at the time the proposal lacked sincerity.

Next Tuesday's meeting at the border village of Panmunjom is intended to prepare for high-level military contacts, possibly at defence minister level. However, South Korea says it will demand that its neighbour take 'responsible measures' over last year's attacks and pledge not to repeat them, as a precondition for any high-level meeting. -- AFP

Mosque to be built in US city after appeal denied

LOS ANGELES - A CALIFORNIA city decided on Wednesday to allow Muslim families to build a mosque after months of angry debate over the plan that included protests, petitions and letter-writing campaigns.

The Temecula City Council voted 4-0 to approve the project after a nine-hour meeting, despite fears by opponents that the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley could bring extremist activity to the region about 128km south-east of Los Angeles.

Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, said some of the opposition was hateful.

'After this decision, we all need to work together to restore the fellowship of the citizens,' he said. 'We need to heal ourselves.' The controversy played out against similar outcries over ongoing plans for a US$100 (S$128 million Islamic centre two blocks from the site of the Sept 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York, and opposition to a new mosque in a Tennessee suburb.

Muslims in Murfreesboro have endured marches and a lawsuit, while those in another Tennessee town withdrew a mosque proposal in May after residents mounted a campaign against rezoning the property.

In Temecula, the Islamic centre was formed in 1998, and its members have been worshipping in a warehouse for a decade. The group plans a 7,620 sq m, two-storey mosque that will be built in two stages and feature two minarets topped with crescent moons. -- AP

Russia warned of airport attack: Reports

A wounded blast victim is brought by rescuers to a hospital from Domodedovo airport in Moscow. -- PHOTO: AP

MOSCOW - RUSSIAN security services had received warnings that an attack was planned at a Moscow airport, reports said on Monday after a blast killed at least 35 people at the city's largest air hub Domodedovo.

'The special services had received information that an act of terror would be carried out at one of the Moscow airports,' a security source told the RIA Novosti news agency.

'Agents were seeking three suspects but they managed to access the territory of the airport, witness the explosion which their accomplice carried out and then leave the airport,' the source said. The suspects most likely brought the suicide bomber to the airport in a car that they parked in the long-term car park, the source said.

'A tip-off with a warning that something was being prepared appeared one week before the explosion,' an airport security source told the Lifenews.ru website. 'Even the place, by the customs, was named.' 

The source complained that the airport had cut numbers of security staff by half in recent months, and alleged corruption within the airport police, saying they spent their time soliciting bribes from migrants.

'All the police did was fleece people flying in from Central Asia,' the source claimed. The blast took place in the international arrivals hall where passengers are met, just after the customs control.

An airport spokesman confirmed it was a free access zone that does not require a boarding pass or a special badge to enter. The bombing could have been a second attempt, after a woman died in Moscow last year while apparently preparing an explosive device, a law enforcement source told the Interfax news agency. -- AFP

Russian spy Chapman launches weekly TV

Russian spy Anna Chapman launched her own weekly TV show on Friday. -- PHOTO: AP

MOSCOW - RUSSIAN spy Anna Chapman launched her own weekly TV show on Friday, in her latest public foray since she was deported by the United States last July in a Cold War-style swap.

The 28-year-old redhead has posed in lingerie, attended a space launch and even had a sing-a-long with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin since she returned to Russia following her arrest and expulsion with nine other Russian sleeper agents.

'I will reveal all secrets,' Chapman said on the one-hour, nightly show Mysteries of the World with Anna Chapman, which aired on the private Russian channel REN TV.

Dressed in a black and red velvet dress, Chapman reported on a 'miracle' baby from Russia's Dagestan region in the mainly Muslim North Caucasus, where an Islamist insurgency is raging.

In 2009 media reports about the baby had caused a frenzy in the region when imams said pinkish scrawled verses from the Quran had appeared and faded on the child's body every few day.

Regional experts dismissed the claims, saying the impoverished, violence-torn region was clinging to any hint of hope. -- REUTERS

At least four killed in Tunisia unrest

Tunisian demonstrators hold a national flag and chant slogans in Tunisia. -- PHOTO: AFP

TUNIS - AT LEAST four people were shot dead and six others seriously wounded late on Saturday when security forces clashed with protesters at a demonstration in central Tunisia, witnesses said.

Teacher and union activist Belgacem Sayhi said the victims were killed when the security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Tala, in the centre-west region of Kasserine.

Those wounded included six in a serious condition who had been transferred to hospital in the regional capital, Kasserine, they added.

Another witness, who also asked not to be named, said there had been clashes overnight on Saturday in Kasserine itself, during which a 12-year-old child was killed when he was shot in the head.

There had already been unrest in Tala on Friday, with protesters attacking a bank and official buildings, setting them on fire, union leader Sadok Mahmoudi told AFP.

On Saturday, troops were deployed for the first time since the start of the recent wave of unrest which has been in protest at high levels of youth unemployment. -- AFP