MALAYSIA: An Indonesian sailor has gone missing along with his
MALAYSIA: An Indonesian sailor has gone missing along with his fishing trawler following a pirate attack in Malaysian waters off the eastern Sabah state on Borneo island, it was reported on Friday.
Four of the ship's Indonesian crew managed to swim to safety by jumping into the sea to escape the robbers who attacked late Thursday, the official Bernama news agency reported.
However, the skipper was unable to escape as he was injured by a gunshot when he got into a scuffle with the pirates.
According to the survivors, a boat carrying two robbers, armed with M-16 rifles, had stopped by the trawler. The men in the boat then boarded the trawler and demanded that the crew abandon ship and swim to shore.
When the sailors refused, a scuffle broke out and one of the armed men fired two shots, one of which hit the skipper in the stomach, the report said. --DPA
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thailand-corruption Thai ex-minister indicted for graft, could face prison or death JP/11/ASEAN Ex-minister indicted for graft THAILAND: Thailand's former health minister Rakkiat Sukthana vowed on Friday to fight a swelling graft case following an indictment which could make him the first ex-cabinet member jailed or sentenced to death for corruption.
Rakkiat was forced to resign his post after he found himself in the midst of a massive medical equipment scandal exposed in 1998 during the previous government led by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai.
The NCCC's unanimous vote to indict Rakkiat was a major step towards a criminal court case which could see Thailand jail its first former cabinet member on graft charges.
The inquiry concluded Rakkiat violated article 149 of the criminal code, which provides for penalties up to the death sentence if members of parliament or state officials are found guilty by a Supreme Court political crime tribunal. --AFP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Philippines-plane Executives of crashed Philippine plane arrested JP/11/ASEAN RP plane crash bosses arrested PHILIPPINES: Two top foreign executives of a domestic Philippine airlines involved in a crash that killed 19 people were arrested on Friday for working here without permits, the immigration bureau said on Friday.
Paul Ng, a Malaysian who chairs LaoagAir, and Jimmy Tan Teng Chui, an Australian who also sits on the board and works as the airline's chief mechanic, were arrested by intelligence operatives in the northern city of Laoag, the bureau said.
Both were detained on orders by immigration commissioner Andrea Domingo on Thursday, when she also placed them and two pilots of the crashed LaoagAir Fokker 27 plane on a "watchlist".
The plane of the small domestic airline had just taken off from a Manila airport on Nov. 11 when it crashed into Manila Bay, killing 19 of the 34 people aboard, including six Australians and three Britons. --AFP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Malaysia-opposition Malaysia's opposition condemns Mahathir's action on Islamic schoo JP/11/ASEAN Mahathir's school move slammed MALAYSIA: An opposition Islamic party on Friday criticized the Malaysian government decision to freeze funding to private Islamic schools, warning it may lead to the closing of hundreds of such schools.
Mahfuz Omar, youth chief and lawmaker of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) said since January 2002, none of the private religious schools have been given their yearly grants.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday the government would look into restricting these schools.
The government last month announced a funding freeze amid complaints that teachers indoctrinate pupils to hate national leaders and instill extremism. But Mahfuz denied the allegations, describing the government action as politically motivated. --AFP
;DPA;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thailand-CondomSpurn Thai actress spurns condom maker's "sexiest woman" award JP/11/ASEAN Condom award fails to excite actress THAILAND: An actress who topped a survey to win the title of "Sexiest Woman in Thailand" will refuse to accept the award because it was sponsored by Durex, the condom company, the woman's mother was quoted as saying on Friday.
Chalida Nilpirom, the mother of movie actress and top fashion model Shermal Bunyasak, blasted the widely publicized Durex award for "abusing my daughter's name".
She said it would have been fine if the award had been bestowed by the media or an educational institute, but condoms had a negative sexual connotation and so her daughter would not pick up her Durex award.
Chalida complained that her daughter's celebrity status had caused her to be attacked on the Internet for wearing sexy clothes and taking on sexy movie roles. --DPA