Festival celebrates Malay culture

Festival celebrates Malay culture

INDONESIA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to open
a festival on Malay culture and its promotion on Sunday in
Pekanbaru, Riau.

Rampai Melayu -- A World Festival on Melayu Culture, to be
held through Aug. 7, is intended to nurture and cultivate Malay
culture, including among other countries with the same cultural
roots, organizers said.

It is also aimed at spurring economic and cultural
development, as well as information sharing, among countries
sharing a Malay cultural foundation.

The exhibition will feature special cuisine, examples of the
Malay literary tradition, arts performances, plays and games.
There will also be seminars on traditional culture and an
international seminar on the history of Riau.

Participating contingents are from four Indonesian provinces
of Jakarta, West Java, Banten and South Kalimantan, and from
overseas, including Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore,
Thailand, the Philippines, Madagascar, England, South Africa and
Sri Lanka.

The festival is the fourth Malay culture festival held since
1990. -- JP

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High-India-temple-mosque
Indian opposition angry at PM's vow to build disputed Hindu templ
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Indian PM blasted for temple 'flip-flop'

INDIA: The main opposition Congress party slammed Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee on Saturday for being an "opportunist" by
saying a Hindu temple would be built on India's most sensitive
holy site, claimed by both Hindus and Muslims.

Analysts said Vajpayee, who heads the Hindu nationalist BJP
party, seemed to be trying to secure his base ahead of assembly
elections this year in five states and national polls due by
October 2004.

Vajpayee said on Friday at the cremation of Hindu guru
Ramchandra Paramhans that he would fulfill the 93-year-old
priest's dying wish to build a temple in the northern city of
Ayodhya at the reputed birthplace of the god Ram, where a mosque
was built in the 16th century but torn down by zealots in 1992.

Congress party spokesman S. Jaipal Reddy called Vajpayee a
"powermongering opportunist ... (he) likes to have his cake and
eat it too. When he sees his position in the party getting
weakened, he comes out with such statements ... The prime
minister keeps making flip-flops all the time on vital issues ...
we don't know which is true," Reddy said. -- AFP

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High-Singapore-Hacking
Singapore leads Southeast Asia in hacking activity
JP/2/HIGH

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High-Thailand-Japan-Embassy Intrusion
Asylum seekers said in good health
JP/2/HIGH

Asylum seekers said in good health

THAILAND: Japan's embassy in Thailand said on Saturday that 10
North Koreans who have taken refuge there were in good health,
but declined to reveal what is being done to resolve the
situation.

Toshihisa Takata, the embassy's second-ranking diplomat, told
reporters that the four men, four women and two children were
still being interviewed by two Korean-speaking Japanese diplomats
to determine what is to be done with them.

The North Koreans rushed past guards into the embassy on
Thursday, in what is assumed to be a bid for political asylum and
resettlement. Japanese officials have not said where the group
wants to go, and the press has not been given access to them.

-- AP

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High-Iraq-Saddam's Sons
Hussein brother buried in Tikrit
JP/2/HIGH

Hussein brothers buried in Tikrit

IRAQ: The sons of Saddam Hussein, Odai and Qusai, were buried in
the family cemetery in their hometown of Tikrit on Saturday
morning, the Iraqi Red Crescent Society and the U.S. military
said.

Buried with the brothers was 14-year-old Mustafa Hussein,
Qusai's son, who also was believed killed in a fierce gun battle
with U.S. troops on July 22 in Mosul. -- AP

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High-Singapore-drugs
S'pore sweep for drugs in clubs
JP/SINGAPORE

S'pore sweep for drugs in clubs

SINGAPORE: Singapore narcotics authorities arrested 98 suspected
drug abusers during a midnight-to-dawn sweep on Saturday through
nightclubs and bars.

Ten nightspots along Orchard Road, Boat Quay and eight other
areas were raided in the six-hour operation, the Central
Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a statement.

"CNB will continue with its vigorous enforcement action
against the abuse of synthetic drugs at entertainment outlets. We
will seek out both traffickers and abusers alike so as to ensure
that synthetic drugs do not gain a foothold in Singapore," it
said. -- AFP

S'pore tops in SE Asia for hacking

SINGAPORE: Singapore leads Southeast Asia in hacking activity
with computer break-ins ranking just behind North Asia and the
United States, statistics gathered by e-Cop.net showed on
Saturday.

For the half year ending June 30, hackers based in the city-
state were responsible for 9 percent of the activity monitored by
the info-security services provider.

Hackers in North Asia, including China, Hong Kong and Taiwan,
accounted for 26 percent, and those in the U.S. 25 percent,
according to the data published in The Business Times.

In the first half of this year, e-Cop recorded 76 million
incidents in the Asia-Pacific region compared with 43 million in
the corresponding period a year ago.

The company tracks hacking activities in the area and compiles
a regional e-security index.

South Korea tied with Singapore for the third spot for attacks
and intrusions in the Asia-Pacific, followed by Japan at 6
percent and Malaysia at 3 percent. -- DPA

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Moslem religious leaders in Singapore condemn homosexuality
JP/2/HIGH

Muslim leaders decry gay rights

SINGAPORE: Muslim religious leaders in Singapore condemned
homosexuality as a sin but urged the faithful not to humiliate or
ostracize gays.

In Friday's sermon prepared by the Islamic Religious Council,
Muslims were told to reach out and persuade gays to give up their
lifestyle.

The position followed Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's
disclosure last month that the government was now openly
employing gays in positions that includes sensitive jobs.

The Islamic Religious Council acknowledged that persuading
gays to give up their lifestyle was a difficult, but not
impossible task. -- DPA