THE STAR : FRIDAY 02 JULY 2010

Petronas maintains RM30bil dividends despite lower profit
KUALA LUMPUR: National oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is dipping into its reserves to fork out RM30bil in dividend payment to the Federal Government this year.

Inmates evicted from woman’s shelter forced to camp out
KUALA LUMPUR: From the comfort of their house in Persiaran Titiwangsa, more than 70 inmates of the Titian Kasih shelter home for troubled women have now shifted to two canopies a kilometre away.

SOBA: Vote and get chance to win great prizes
THE inaugural Star Outstanding Business Awards 2010 is into the final stretch and now is the chance for members of the public to vote on the category of the People’s Choice of Outstanding Malaysian Brand Award.

Thais probe drug motive in gruesome murder of former horse owner
PENANG: A former horse owner was brutally murdered, chopped into 10 pieces and packed in plastic bags before the remains were dumped along a roadside in Pa Daed in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Ida and hubby still legally married, rules Syariah Court
KUALA LUMPUR: Popular actress Ida Nerina Hussain and former Blackrose drummer Sha’arin Mohd Razali are still legally married, ruled the Syariah Lower Court.

Pakatan reps give statements over sand mining permits
PUTRAJAYA: Two Selangor Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen had their statements taken by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com-mission (MACC) to assist in investigations into sand mining permits.

Najib calls on Malaysian companies to be globally competitive
BANTING: Local companies should strive to succeed and be globally competitive with minimum help from the Government.

Report physical abuse, seniors advise freshies
PETALING JAYA: Students in public universities have condemned physical abuse during ragging, saying that freshies should speak up if they are harassed.

Juniors don’t have to accept ragging, says former student
PETALING JAYA: Freshmen do not have to subject themselves to any form of ragging or give in to humiliating demands from their seniors, a former student said.

Tun Omar dies at 93
KUALA LUMPUR: MCA founding member Tun Omar Yoke Lin Ong, 93, was laid to rest at the Warriors’ Mausoleum at Masjid Negara with full honours of a state funeral.

Last Independence fighter mourned
KUALA LUMPUR: With the death of Tun Omar Yoke Lin Ong, Malaysia mourns the loss of its last Independence fighter and the last member of the country’s first Cabinet under Tunku Abdul Rahman.

UPSR-PMR decision by this year
KUALA LUMPUR: The decision on whether to do away with the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) will be made this year.

Nazrin: Careful planning vital
IPOH: Careful planning is vital if the Government goes ahead with its proposal to abolish the UPSR and PMR.

Licence to sell essential goods kicks off
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has begun its nationwide enforcement to ensure traders are licensed to sell sugar, flour and cooking oil.

‘Asking Wee to be detained is inciting hatred’
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin wants the Home Ministry to investigate Suara Perkasa, the newsletter of Malay rights group Perkasa, for inciting unrest.

Ka Siong has no fear of Perkasa’s call
KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong says he is not intimidated by a call from Perkasa for him to be detained under the Internal Security Act.

Bujang Valley larger than thought
GEORGE TOWN: The Bujang Valley civilisation in Merbok, Kedah, might have been twice as big as what it was originally thought to be, according to new findings by a team of researchers from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

Alleged abused boy’s mum held
KUALA LUMPUR: Police arrested the mother of a two-year-old boy who was allegedly abused by his father.

Parents continue search for two-year-old Nisha
PETALING JAYA: It has been almost a month since two-year-old Nisha Chandramohan went missing but her parents are not giving up and have taken it upon themselves to search for her.

Man slashes girlfriend, jumps into sea
GEORGE TOWN: A man jumped into the sea off the Esplanade after he slashed his ex-girlfriend and left her by the roadside along Jalan Masjid Negeri.

Kula: I did not offer post to Samy
KLANG: Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran has denied offering expelled MIC member K.P. Samy an opening in the DAP.

Man held after delay in reporting brother’s murder
GOMBAK: A man found his brother dead with multiple stab wounds on his body but only reported the murder some five hours later.

Football legend’s son to wed today
KUALA LUMPUR: Mohd Reza Mohd Mokhtar, the only son of Malaysia’s legendary football player the late Datuk Mokhtar Dahari, could not have chosen a better time to get married.

Pirated disc peddlers losing business to the W-Cup fever
GEORGE TOWN: World Cup fever may have brought brisk business for food outlets but pirated DVD peddlers here say that sales have dropped by as much as 50%.

20-year plan to transform Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Hua Zong) has come up with a 20-year plan of action to address issues facing the country.

NGO confident about Felda’s financial position
PETALING JAYA: Felda’s 300,000-strong expanded family has expressed confidence in the financial position of the body, dismissing claims by PKR that it had gone bankrupt.

Zahid: No need to probe Perimekar
BANGI: There is no need for the MACC to probe claims that commission was paid to Perimekar Sdn Bhd over the procurement of Scorpene submarines, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

Cops and MACC probe reports over new palace site
KUALA LUMPUR: Since the plight of foreign workers hired to build the new RM800mil Istana Negara was highlighted by The Star on June 27, two police reports have been lodged and an investigation by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) is under way.

Burglars fail to break into ATM
SUBANG JAYA: Several would-be thieves tried to steal money from an automated teller machine (ATM) in a petrol station, but gave up when they realised that policemen were after them.

‘No right’ to appoint own legal advisers
KUALA LUMPUR: State governments have no right to appoint their own legal advisers or lawyers, as the move is unconstitutional, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz.

Direct-selling workers robbed of RM3,500
KUANTAN: Three women manning a direct-selling shop in Kuala Lipis were robbed of cash and jewellery worth about RM3,500 by two men armed with parangs.

Liow: Act fast on dengue
GEORGE TOWN: Doctors should show more initiative and act faster when treating patients with dengue fever, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Ministry: Daily fogging not enough to check dengue
IPOH: Daily fogging whenever dengue cases are reported will only result in mosquitoes in the affected area becoming immune to the chemicals used, Health Ministry disease control director Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman warned.

Yen Yen: We want to triple tourism receipts by 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: The Tourism Ministry hopes to reach RM170bil in tourism receipts in 2020, three times more than the present RM54bil.

DPM: Strive for national identity
KUALA LUMPUR: Local governments and architects should design urban hubs like art works and strive to find the nation’s distinct sense of identity that reflects the Asean culture, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Curb deviant teachings, says Ruler
KOTA ISKANDAR: The Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar has reminded all state enforcement agencies, especially police, to curb deviant teachings.

Buildings renamed after historic figures
KOTA ISKANDAR: The Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar has renamed the state assembly building here Bangunan Sultan Ismail and the Mentri Besar’s office and State Secretariat as Bangunan Datuk Jaafar Muhammad.

Dept targets 100,000 civil defence volunteers
KUALA LUMPUR: The Civil Defence Department is targeting to recruit 100,000 volunteers this year.

Bomba the main rescue agency
PUTRAJAYA: The Fire and Rescue Department is now officially the lead agency for non-fire related rescue services, said Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung.

Man who raped daughters on the run from cops
A 40-year-old man is on the run following accusations that he had been raping his three daughters, sometimes all in one night.

Bureau probes sex education classes at primary school
THE Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) is investigating a Tamil newspaper report that a Tamil primary school in Gemas, Johor, is holding sex education classes, Malaysia Nanban reported.

Man pastes divorce papers on house door
A MAN in Singapore was so eager to part with his wife that he pasted the divorce papers on the door of their house, while she was away in Malaysia to care for her ailing father.