Death toll in Iraq suicide bombings rises to 17

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• Death toll in Iraq suicide bombings rises to 17
• Winter blizzard disrupts travel in U.S. northeast
• Train with gifts for N.Korea heir derails
• Winter blizzard disrupts travel in US northeast
• Russian refinery blast kills five Chinese
• Gaza's fallen women: doing time for 'moral' crime
• Honduran coffee draws from sweat of its children
• Investors line up for first IPOs in communist Laos
• Eight key market areas for China to invest in Malaysia
• EPF management mechanisms must be strengthened
• Still too many blocks in business, says Indian Chamber of Commerce
• Call for commitment to keep M'sia safe from man-made tragedies
• JCORP has no plans to sell KFC and QSR
• Isa dreams of achieving Felda's objectives
• RM150 mln Mara loans for Bumiputera entrepreneurs next year
• Turkey open to hosting Taliban representative office
• Talent scouting for the Louvre
• Festive Odd Box - sports special
• European official moots takeover protection for key sectors
• Russia slips up on icy weather amid travel chaos

Death toll in Iraq suicide bombings rises to 17 Posted: 27 Dec 2010 12:32 AM PST BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two suicide car bombers targeting a government compound in the Iraqi town of Ramadi killed at least 17 people and wounded 47 on Monday, a police official said.

Winter blizzard disrupts travel in U.S. northeast Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:56 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A winter blizzard moved across the northeastern United States on Monday, disrupting air and rail travel and forcing motorists to deal with blowing snow and icy roads at the end of the busy Christmas weekend.

Train with gifts for N.Korea heir derails Posted: 27 Dec 2010 12:09 AM PST SEOUL, Dec 27 – A train packed with birthday gifts for North Korea's leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-un derailed this month in a possible act of sabotage, a Seoul-based radio station which broadcasts across the border reported today. Open Radio for North Korea, a non-profit station which often cites sources in the reclusive, impoverished North, said ...

Winter blizzard disrupts travel in US northeast Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:37 PM PST NEW YORK, Dec 27 — A winter blizzard moved across the northeastern United States today, disrupting air and rail travel and forcing motorists to deal with blowing snow and icy roads at the end of the busy Christmas weekend. The storm, the first widespread blizzard of the season, unleashed powerful winds as it moved northward up the coast, dumping ...

Russian refinery blast kills five Chinese Posted: 26 Dec 2010 08:00 PM PST BEIJING, Dec 27 — A blast at an oil refinery in Russia's Zabaikalsky region killed five Chinese. — Reuters

Gaza's fallen women: doing time for 'moral' crime Posted: 26 Dec 2010 03:40 PM PST By Sara Hussein FEATURE GAZA CITY: Najwa Abu Amra cries inside a Gaza jail as she explains how she got here. Struggling to care for two sons and a drug-addicted husband, she agreed to sleep with a man for about US$50. She had resisted prostitution in the past, but she was getting desperate. "My husband isn't normal, he was telling me to sleep with men because they would give him money," she said. "He did what he liked and he didn't give me anything. I didn't know what to do." Her husband showed no interest in caring for their two boys, one aged nine, the other just three. When she walked out, trying to prod him into better behaviour, he married a second wife. "I had two sons, one of them is deaf, I didn't have a choice," she explains as the other women prisoners look on, some of them clutching their own children. Out of desperation, she dialled the number of a man she had met months earlier, and agreed to sleep with him for 200 shekels (US$54). Not long afterwards, Abu Amra was arrested on suspicion of immoral behaviour. She was hauled before a judge and ordered to attend 30 days of pre-trial detention at the Training and Reform Centre for Women, Gaza's only prison for women. Conservative mores The facility is run by Hamas, which has been in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007. The group won legislative elections in 2006, and a year later seized control of the coastal enclave after deadly confrontations with rival Fatah. Since coming to power, the Islamist group has sought to bolster Gaza's conservative religious mores, although it has rescinded some controversial measures, including one banning women from publicly smoking the waterpipe. The prison, such as it is, consists of two rooms that house 19 women and a handful of children. The rest of the building, which is still under construction, houses a men's prison and administration offices. Inside one of the rooms, 11 women sit on foam cushions and thick rugs, their thin blankets piled in a corner. One nurses a child in the dimly-lit room, which has only one tiny window letting in very little light. In the other, eight women sit chatting with their female prison guard, Umm Ahmed, who treats them with a mixture of sympathy and revulsion. Abu Amra's two boys are still with her husband, but another woman, a tired and scared-looking prisoner who refuses to give her name, is rocking her newborn son in her arms. He was born just three days earlier and doesn't yet have a name. His mother was transferred to a hospital for the birth then returned to jail shortly after. His father is a man she slept with for money, Umm Ahmed says. But the new mother claims otherwise, describing the man as her husband. She says her family arranged the marriage while she was in jail, hoping it would be enough to get her out and minimise some of the public disgrace they face. Umm Ahmed says the family has done no such thing. It is a common solution, said Nasser Deeb Suliman, director of prison security, especially when the man in the question is someone the family knows. "If it was with a neighbour or a friend, usually the family will decide to marry them, and then the woman can be released," he said. The woman's sister, who also refused to give her name, is in a similar situation. She is heavily pregnant and due to give birth this month, after spending almost half of her pregnancy in prison. 'Moral' crimes rarely sentenced Suliman said the women are divided between the two rooms according to the severity of their crimes, but 21-year-old Tahrir, who was convicted of murder, is in the same room as women accused of prostitution and pickpocketing. In the next room sits Rihab, a quiet and pale 34-year-old whose arms are covered in scars from cutting herself. She talks openly but without pride about how she ended up in prison. She didn't need money, she had a job at a local hospital. Her crime was to chose to sleep with two men, both of whom ended up in prison as well. "I did it, I'm not going to lie, I did it twice," she said. Her family was furious at first, but her father has forgiven her. "He told the neighbours I'm in Egypt, he's going to get a lawyer for me," she said. The two men have already been released, after hiring attorneys to argue their cases. Those accused of "moral" crimes are rarely sentenced, Suliman says. Instead, a judge extends their 30-day detention period several times, releasing them between four and eight months later – less if a woman gets married, and more if she is a repeat offender. Some women are more reluctant than Rihab to admit why they are in jail. Kholud, 18, and her mother, who declines to give her name, have been in prison for two months, and say they were jailed over a family dispute. Umm Ahmed openly contradicts them, but they refuse to change their story. Outside the cell, the guard takes a visitor aside, her face sad but her voice filled with disgust as she describes the women as part of a brothel. "The whole family was rotten. They were all involved. The father was in charge. The guy who was with the daughter was also with the mother," she says. "Don't believe everything they say." - AFP

Honduran coffee draws from sweat of its children Posted: 26 Dec 2010 03:34 PM PST By Orlando Sierra FEATURE EL PARAISO: Evelyn and Carlos toil for 10 hours a day on chilly mountainsides in Honduras, filling baskets with ripe red coffee beans for a handful of dollars: they are six and eight years old. "Sometimes I fill up to seven baskets a day," said Evelyn, deftly swatting branches out of her way before picking prime Honduran coffee beans and dropping them into a wicker container hanging from her tiny waist. Evelyn's estimate was likely a bit off since Carlos, two years her senior, said he only managed four – Evelyn could easily be forgiven as she had just started school and was still learning basic arithmetic. The children probably manage to pick about 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of coffee beans a day. Their rich produce sold this week at market for US$2.34 a pound – a daily haul, therefore, worth roughly US$150. "I give the money I make to my mommy," said Carlos of his US$8-a-day wage. More than 100,000 Hondurans work in the plantations during the four-month harvesting season that begins in October. Government data shows up to one million people are permanently employed in an industry that represents some 15% of the small and poor Central American nation's GDP. Many of those seasonal workers are children and while the Honduran government does not regulate child labour, employers are aware that what they are doing is wrong. "We're short of manual labor and you can't just let the beans fall off" and rot, said Faustino Gonzalez, who owns La Tomacita, the plantation where Evelyn and Carlos work. Adults are put off by the hard work on mountainsides that are often drenched in rain or blanketed by chilly mists, explained the coffee-grower. "Each day we get fewer workers and that's why we turn to pickers of all ages," said Gonzalez. "We make sure the children are always next to their father or mother so they can keep an eye on them and get them out of harm's way... sometimes there are steep ravines on the property and they can slip and hit their head on a rock or a log." Breakneck speed A few plants down from where Evelyn and Carlos, David and Darwin – 12 and 14 respectively – picked alongside their father Santos Vasquez, stripping branches clean of coffee beans at breakneck speed, trying to make enough money to buy some clothes. "I hope to reach my goal by Christmas Eve," said Darwin, who had just finished elementary school and knew his family was too poor to give him any further education. Gonzalez said he expected the 12 hilly hectares (30 acres) at La Tomacita – near the village of El Paraiso (Paradise) to yield about 200 48-kilogram (105-pound) sacks of coffee. Honduras' booming coffee industry is the third-largest in the Mexico, Central America and Caribbean region, according to the Global Agricultural Information Network. The last 2009-2010 growing season yielded four million sacks of coffee, US$610 million worth of which was exported, said the Honduras Coffee Institute, which hopes production will one day be the biggest in the region. But Honduras is also one of the few countries around the world that does not ban child labour. Latest UN figures showed some 215 million children are still put to work around the world, most of them in hazardous conditions. - AFP

Investors line up for first IPOs in communist Laos Posted: 27 Dec 2010 12:03 AM PST HANOI, Monday 27 December 2010 (AFP) - Eager novice investors in communist Laos signed up for shares as the country's first-ever initial public offerings came to a close, an investment banker said Monday. read more

Eight key market areas for China to invest in Malaysia Posted: 27 Dec 2010 12:01 AM PST At least eight key market areas in the higher value added and technology and knowledge intensive activities have been identified as suitable for China to invest in Malaysia, said the President of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), Tan Sri Datuk Mustafa Mansur read more

EPF management mechanisms must be strengthened Posted: 27 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST Recently, an Indian woman from Subang city of Selangor went to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Board to make an enquiry about her EPF deposits and was surprised to find that the RM56,000 in her account has been withdrawn by an unidentified man using a false death certificate. The event revealed that there may be loopholes in the EPF withdrawal mechanism, so that criminals can take advantage of it. In addition, the National Registration Department (NRD), hospitals and the police have the responsibility to establish the truth with regards to the forging of the death certificate. All parties involved must give a clear account to the victim and ensure that the deposits and interests of other EPF members are protected. read more

Still too many blocks in business, says Indian Chamber of Commerce Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:59 PM PST The Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KLSICCI) claims that there are still many stumbling blocks preventing its members and associates from getting the right opportunities to prosper. read more

Call for commitment to keep M'sia safe from man-made tragedies Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:58 PM PST Recent accidents involving a tour bus and a ferry have prompted a social activist to urge all public transport operators to comply with basic safety requirements and improve their safety record if they want foreign tourists to keep coming to the country. read more

JCORP has no plans to sell KFC and QSR Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:57 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR, Monday 27 December 2010 (Bernama) -- Johor Corporation (JCorp) has no plans to sell its prized assets, QSR Brands Bhd and KFC Holdings (M) Bhd, which are held through its subsidiary Kulim (M) Bhd, it said in a statement today. read more

Isa dreams of achieving Felda's objectives Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:56 PM PST Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad said today that his dream after being appointed chairman of the Federal Land Development Authority is to achieve all objectives the government set for Felda. read more

RM150 mln Mara loans for Bumiputera entrepreneurs next year Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:55 PM PST Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) has allocated RM150 million to be given out as loans to bumiputera entrepreneurs nationwide next year, said its chairman Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh. read more

Turkey open to hosting Taliban representative office Posted: 27 Dec 2010 12:02 AM PST ANKARA, Dec 27: Turkey has voiced openness to the idea of hosting a representative office of the Taliban, saying it would accept any offer that would pave the way for internal peace in Afghanistan, as long as the offer is embraced by the Afghan government.

Talent scouting for the Louvre Posted: 27 Dec 2010 12:07 AM PST For 20 years the Louvre has scoured the world's conservatoires and music halls in search of the best musicians and Christian Fraser has been to take a closer look.

Festive Odd Box - sports special Posted: 21 Dec 2010 10:53 AM PST Dominic Byrne looks back at some of the sporting events featured in Newsbeat's Odd Box during 2010.

European official moots takeover protection for key sectors Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:46 PM PST FRANKFURT, Monday 27 December 2010 (AFP) - Europe's industry commissioner Antonio Tajani urged Monday in an interview that strategic sectors be protected against foreign takeovers, in particular by China. read more

Russia slips up on icy weather amid travel chaos Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:45 PM PST MOSCOW, Monday 27 December 2010 (AFP) - Russia on Monday battled to come to terms with the havoc sparked by a bout of icy weather which wrecked the travel plans of thousands of air travellers and left half a million without power. read more

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