Cabbie jailed for molesting maid

Cabbie jailed for molesting maid

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man has been sentenced to a year in jail
for molesting a teenage maid that he hired to care for his dying
wife, according to a court official and newspaper reports on
Friday.

Michael Jacob De Costa, a 51-year-old taxi driver, also was
fined S$4,000 (US$2,300) by the Subordinate Court on Thursday for
touching the 18-year-old Indonesian woman's breast and buttocks
last year.

De Costa was caught after the maid confided in his wife's
doctor, according to The Straits Times. The doctor -- who was
treating the dying woman at the family's house -- then told De
Costa's daughter, who took the matter to police, the newspaper
said.

De Costa said he only poked the maid on the lower back to get
her attention and brushed against her breast accidentally as she
gave him a massage, the newspaper said. --AP

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Aglance-Thailand-floods
Thai monsoon floods kill 39, thousands homeless
JP/11/ASEAN

Thai monsoon floods kill 39

THAILAND: Floods have killed at least 39 people and damaged more
than 150,000 houses in Thailand over the last month as monsoon
rains have swollen rivers and lakes across the country, the Thai
interior ministry said on Friday.

Thailand's north and east have been worst hit with some
districts reporting their most severe flooding for decades and
the seasonal rains showing no signs of abating, officials said.

Floodwaters in some towns and villages in these provinces are
as high as three meters above street level, trapping thousands of
villagers inside their homes and cutting off electricity and
fresh water supplies.

The death toll included at least 16 refugees from the Karen
ethnic minority living in a makeshift settlement in northern Mae
Hong Son Province near the Myanmar border. --Reuters

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Aglance-Cambodia-politics
Sniper fires on Cambodia's Sam Rainsy Party office
JP/11/ASEAN

Sniper fires on opposition office

CAMBODIA: A sniper fired a shot into the headquarters of
Cambodia's opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) on Friday, said the
party secretary, who was narrowly missed by the bullet.

SRP secretary Nob Eourn said the shot was fired at 8:15 a.m.
when he was photocopying documents inside his office.

The shots were fired hours after SRP chief Sam Rainsy received
a "freedom award" in the United States from the Heritage
Foundation, a conservative think tank.

Washington and human rights groups have expressed concern over
what they see as intimidation against Sam Rainsy Party activists
ahead of Cambodia's general election next July.

Concern was particularly acute during commune elections in
February which took place amid threats, intimidation, killings
and vote-buying. Election monitors fear a repeat in the lead-up
to the next polls. --AFP

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Aglance-Malaysia-Opposition
Court finds in favor of Malaysian opposition, but stops short of
JP/11/ASEAN

Court finds in favor of opposition

MALAYSIA: Malaysia's highest court on Friday delivered a partial
victory to four jailed opposition figures and a stinging rebuke
to police for claiming the four were arrested for threatening
national security.

Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah said there was "much
force" to the detainees' claim that police had an "ulterior
purpose" in arresting them -- stifling political opposition to
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government.

But despite ruling the arrests were illegal, Dzaiddin and
three other judges sitting as a panel stopped short of ordering
the group's release. They said that home minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi's orders that the group be imprisoned for two years
without trial remained in force. --AP