One More Malaysian Girl Fell to be Victims

As the family of marketing executive Chee Gaik Yap gave her a final send-off, six suspects were ordered to be remanded by a Sungai Petani sessions court in connection with her rape and murder.

Sessions Court Judge Azizah Mahmud issued yesterday a seven-day remand order on the suspects, believed to be workers of a recreation club here.

The six, aged between 20 and 40, arrived in the afternoon at the courthouse in a police truck. They were taken to the Kuala Muda police headquarters lock-up two hours later.

The six were picked up from the club on Monday night.

Gaik Yap, who was jogging near Taman Ria Jaya on Saturday evening, was found dead less than nine hours later.

The Universiti Utara Malaysia graduate was believed to have been trailed by her assailants, kidnapped, raped and killed elsewhere before her body was dumped near the housing estate.

The case is being investigated as rape and murder.

If convicted of murder, the suspects could face the death penalty. Rapists could be punished by a jail term of between five and 20 years, and in some cases whipped.

It was believed that some tissue paper containing semen had been found at the recreation club and inside an unidentified pick-up which was seized by the police.

Police have questioned several witnesses, including the victim’s boyfriend.

Gaik Yap’s family, meanwhile, was unhappy that a security guard who was informed of her disappearance did not act promptly to alert the police.

Her father Ah Sau, 49, said his younger daughter Gaik Choon was jogging some distance from Gaik Yap when she realised that she had gone missing.

“My daughter rushed to the guardhouse of a gated community when she saw some bloodstains on the ground. But the guard did not immediately call the police,” he said.

“The guard said the bloodstains could have been because someone had bled from an accident.

Relatives, friends, colleagues and politicians, including state MCA chief Datuk Beh Heng Seong and DAP deputy secretary-general Chong Eng, turned up for the funeral.

Gaik Yap was cremated at the Siamese temple crematorium in Sungai Pasir here.

Source: Malaysia theStar News Service

Google Talk Merits Other IMs

Yahoo! and MSN announced a plan some month ago to make their IM users able to exchange consersation with each other in mid-2006. At that time, Google Talk, a new comer within IM field, didn't make any response, however today's Googleblog, Mike Jazayeri, Product Manager of Google TalkTeam, released that their jabber based Google Talk adopt open federation for the IM services, this means using GT can talk to other also jabber based IMs. What Google's done, again advances other its competitor's alliance!

Westerns Trapped by Iran?

"If we are referred to the Security Council, we shall stop all our nuclear engagements", warned FA Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

Iran on Tuesday urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to keep the Iranian nuclear case in the technical domain and free from political influences.

Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh, Iran's representative to the Vienna- based IAEA, made the call during his meeting with IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Tehran expects the IAEA not to let the Iran case to be driven from technical domain into a political one, Soltaniyeh was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Alaeddin Borujerdi, chairman of Iran's Majlis ( parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, also urged ElBaradei to make technical evaluation which is in line with the IAEA mandate rather than political statements on Iran's nuclear program.

"According to international law, Iran's nuclear dossier should not be referred to the UN Security Council," Borujerdi was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying.

Borujerdi expressed hope that ElBaradei would take the continued cooperation between the two sides into consideration in his future pronouncements about Iran and would maintain the IAEA's impartiality.

The Iranian calls came one day after officials of the European trio of Britain, France and Germany as well as the United States, Russia and China held a close-door meeting in London to discuss the Iranian nuclear issue.

At the London meeting, the European trio informed the other participants of their intention to call for an emergency IAEA board of governors meeting on Feb. 2-3.

The European Union (EU), which had been trying in vain for two years to dissuade Iran from its efforts to build nuclear fuel cycle, is endeavoring to refer Iran's case to the UN Security Council.

Iran on Jan. 10 resumed its nuclear research work which had been suspended for more than two years, incurring condemnation and the referral attempt of the EU and the United States.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, a charge rejected by Iran as politically motivated.

(Source: Xinhua, UPDATED: 08:27, January 18, 2006 by Peoples's Daily )

China to Issue "Super Girls" Stamps

A big honor to recognize Li Yuchun!

Chinese starlet Li Yuchun, champion of "Super Girls", an "American Idol"-type pop star contest, will soon appear on stamps, the first time a pop star has had such an honor.

(A fans of Chinese singer Li Yu-chun holds Li's photo during a Christmas event in Hong Kong December 24, 2005. Photo: Reuters)


On Wednesday, the China National Philatelic Corp. will issue a series of eight stamps and a set of eight commemorative envelopes of Li, and the issuing ceremony will be held Thursday in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, sources said Tuesday.

Li was named champion of the live, three-hour finale of "Super Girls 2005" in August, a television "American Idol"-type pop star contest that attracted millions of viewers, and has since become one of the most popular singers in China.

Pop stars have never become the theme of stamps before, though China has issued commemorative stamps of famous artists such as the late Beijing Opera master Mei Lanfang.

The Li stamps are designed by well-known designer Guo Chenghui. The series of stamps will sell at 36 yuan (4.5 U.S. dollars) and the set of envelopes 38 yuan (4.75 dollars). (Source: Xinhua, via CRIENGLISH.com )

Stunborn Virus

Bird flu experts meeting in Beijing warned on Tuesday that there was no time to lose in battling a disease that has killed almost 80 people since 2003 and has now arrived at the gates of Europe and the Middle East.

The World Bank hopes the meeting will raise at least $1.2 billion to help improve health and veterinary services in developing countries grappling with outbreaks, and to strengthen surveillance in areas not yet affected by the H5N1 flu virus. (Source: here)

(Wang Xiaolong, left, Deputy Director General of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sits with other officials while attending the opening ceremony of the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza, in Beijing. Others in the picture, left to right: Herve Jouanjean, Directorate for External Relations of the EC; Qiao Zonghuai, Vice Minister of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs; James Adams, World Bank Vice President. Photo: AFP)