Nurul Izzah moves private members bill to abolish Sedition Act

Nurul Izzah Anwar.

KUALA LUMPUR: Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar has submitted a Private Members' Bill to abolish the Sedition Act 1948 in a bid to put pressure on the Government to fulfil its pledge to repeal the law.

Nurul Izzah, a PKR vice-president, said it was almost a year since Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak promised that the Government would repeal the Act and replace it with the National Harmony Act.

"However, the public is still waiting for Najib's promise to be realised.

"In the mean time, many activists and Pakatan Rakyat leaders including PKR vice-president Tian Chua, PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa and student activist Adam Adli were arrested under the law," she told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

She said she submitted the Sedition (Repeal) Bill 2013 to Dewan Rakyat secretary Datuk Roosme Hamzah on Monday.

Nurul Izzah said she hoped this step will end the abuse of the Act and bring about reforms for a better Malaysia.

"The decision to allow the Private Members' Bill to be debated in the House rests on the Dewan Rakyat Speaker," she said.

An MP can propose a Bill through the Private Members' Bill under common parliamentary practice.

On July 11 last year, Najib announced that the Government would repeal the Act and replace it with the National Harmony Act.

When approached by reporters, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said he would look into Nurul Izzah's proposed Bill.

On the Kuala Besut by-election, Nurul Izzah, who is PKR vice-president, said the Pakatan Rakyat top leadership understood that PAS was interested in contesting for the state seat and were willing to let the party go ahead.

Shisha smoking under fire over health risks

PETALING JAYA: A hookah habit can harm your health, largely due to the many misconceptions about shisha, says Dr S. Dhesi Baha Raja, former assistant state health director of the Maternal and Child Health division at the Sabah State Health department.

The flavoured tobacco is smoked by enthusiasts worldwide for its sweet smell and smooth taste.

An American Lung Association study in 2007 showed a worldwide increase in shisha use in recent years, mostly among youths and university students.

"Teenagers think shisha is a herbal product. That when they smoke it, no tobacco is inhaled. This is wrong, because the herbal packaging has tobacco," said Dr Dhesi in a phone interview.

In 2010, the Monitoring The Future survey found that 17% of high school seniors in the United States smoked shisha in the previous year.

Dr Dhesi also cited studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to outline the dangers of shisha smoking, which include unclear levels of tobacco content in shisha itself.

"By law, registered cigarette products in Malaysia can only have a certain permissible level of nicotine and tar (Total Aerosol Residue). But shisha comes in many different packagings, so you don't know how much tobacco content varies between them," he said.

In Malaysia, cigarette emission standards are regulated according to the Control of Tobacco Product (Amendment) Regulations 2008.

The current maximum allowable level for nicotine is 1.5mg per cigarette, while tar levels should not exceed 20mg per cigarette.

Even the way shisha is prepared poses a danger to its fans who enjoy taking deep breaths of the relaxing, aromatic smoke before exhaling into their surroundings.

"At the very top of a hookah, the bowl containing shisha is covered by aluminium foil, upon which burning charcoal is placed to roast the tobacco. Toxic fumes are produced by the reaction between the burning charcoal and aluminium foil," said Dr Dhesi.

The hookah's glass base, which acts as a chamber for the shisha smoke, is also filled with water.

"This water mixes with the toxic gases and increases the smoke's humidity, which causes the carcinogenic fumes to stay in the lungs longer," he said.

As shisha smoking is a largely social activity, a nozzle used to inhale and exhale the flavoured smoke is usually shared between many people.

"A study showed that the nozzle can play host to huge amounts of microbacteria and viral hepatitis such as tuberculosis and even Hepatitis A, which increases a shisha smoker’s risk of contracting diseases," said Dr Dhesi.

According to the WHO, a 60-minute shisha session produces about 100 to 200 times more smoke than a regular cigarette, which translates into a heavier output of toxic fumes for both the smoker and the people around them.

As shisha sessions are considered a leisurely activity, smokers also tend to take deeper puffs over a longer period of time, which can cause a higher risk of developing oral and lung cancer due to prolonged absorption of toxins.

"Anything that contains tobacco increases the chance for cancer cells to develop. People think shisha is harmless, whereas they at least know cigarettes are bad for them. So shisha smokers have a higher risk of developing lung cancer because of the 'no-tobacco-content' misconception!" he said.

Last week, the Perlis Fatwa Committee banned the smoking and sale of shisha in the state as it is more detrimental to health than smoking cigarettes.

The Malacca and Kelantan state governments were the first to ban the sale of shisha in 2011.

But Dr Dhesi is of the opinion that merely raising awareness on the dangers of shisha smoking will not effect any lasting change.

"It is all about studying and diagnosing the community’s pre-existing behaviour before we intervene with behavioural change measures. Only then will we succeed in changing the misconceptions of shisha," he said.

However, the proposed "community diagnosis" is not a blanket rule.

"People’s culture and background will determine their attitudes towards shisha smoking. We have to understand that before we introduce any health measures," he added.

‘Elak penipuan tiket’

Johor Bahru: Mekanisme terbaik perlu dicari untuk memastikan penjualan tiket membabitkan aksi final perlawanan penting anjuran Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia (FAM) dibuat dengan cara yang lebih terurus bagi memastikan tiada lagi kekeliruan.

Sehubungan itu, Timbalan Presiden FAM, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah berkata, tugas pertama Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin selaku Setiausaha Agung FAM pastinya adalah mencari jalan terbaik untuk menyelesaikan isu pelaksanaan penjualan tiket terutama yang membabitkan perlawanan penting anjuran badan induk bola sepak negara. 

Kagum sambutan 

Katanya, secara peribadi beliau kagum dengan sambutan luar biasa penyokong Johor Darul Takzim (DT) dan Kelantan pada aksi final Piala FA, kelmarin.

Namun pada masa sama, beliau tampak kurang senang dengan kes membabitkan penipuan jualan tiket.

Mat Yo marah, buang pingat

Bukit Jalil: Kecewa, sedih dan marah. Mungkin itu perasaan penyerang Johor Darul Takzim (DT), Norshahrul Idlan Talaha selepas pasukannya hanya bergelar naib juara Piala FA kelmarin. 

Pemain terbaik negara itu antara tonggak utama Johor DT yang bermain bermati-matian sepanjang 90 minit sebelum ditewaskan bekas pasukannya, Kelantan 1-0 di Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil. 

Kemuncak kekecewaan pemain dengan gelaran Mat Yo itu terbukti apabila dia membuang pingat diterimanya ke dalam tong sampah sebelum masuk ke bilik persalinan. 

Norshahrul juga enggan ditemuramah media selepas perlawanan berkenaan. 

Marah, kecewa 

Jika dinilai permainan penyerang kebangsaan itu, dia memang berhak untuk berasa marah dan kecewa kerana Johor DT mempunyai keupayaan untuk muncul juara, tetapi Norshahrul tidak banyak mendapat bantuan rakan sepasukan. 

Namun paling mengecewakan Norshahrul apabila golnya pada minit ke-63 dibatalkan pengadil Syed Azhar Syed Kamar yang terlebih dulu meniup wisel kerana mendakwa penyerang itu mengasari Azizi Matt Rose. 
Perlu sokongan 

Bagi penyerang hebat seperti Norshahrul, kilauan trofi sudah tentu menjadi ganjaran paling bermakna dalam karier mereka, tetapi bola sepak bukan setakat kemahiran individu. 

Dia memerlukan sokongan rakan sepasukan untuk berfungsi sebagai perancang dan juga penjaring.

ManCity, Juve confirm Tevez transfer

LONDON (June 27, 2013): Manchester City and Juventus on Thursday confirmed that Carlos Tevez had signed for the Italian club, bringing an end to his four-stay in northwest England.

"After 148 appearances and 73 goals for City, Tevez has agreed a three-year deal with the reigning Serie A champions," City said on their website, mcfc.co.uk.

"Everyone at Manchester City wishes Carlos the best of luck in Italy and thanks him for his important contributions."

No further details were disclosed but the 29-year-old Argentina striker was reported on Tuesday to have signed for Juve in a deal that could cost the Turin club up to £13.5 million (16 million euros, $21 million).

Juventus said on juventus.com that Tevez will wear the number 10 shirt and had signed with the club until June 30, 2016.

A news conference was due to be held at 0930 GMT, they added.

Tevez began his spell in England in 2006/7 at West Ham United, scoring the goal that kept the east London club in the English Premier League.

He moved to Manchester United the following season but headed to City in 2009 amid reports of disagreements with then-manager Alex Ferguson.

At City, he captained the club to victory in the FA Cup and was part of the side that won the Sky Blues' first league title since 1968.

But his relationship with former boss Roberto Mancini soured after he was stripped of the captaincy and then refused to warm-up when told to during a Champions League match against Bayern Munich in 2011/12.

That sparked a protracted exile and Mancini vowed that he would never play for City again but he eventually returned and ended up as the club's joint-top scorer last season with 17 goals.

Mancini was sacked after City's surprise FA Cup final defeat to relegated Wigan last year and after the club failed to progress beyond the Champions League stages for the second successive season.

He was replaced by former Malaga manager Manuel Pellegrini. 

19 firefighters killed in Arizona blaze: county sheriff

Fires raging in the hills near Yarnell, Arizona on June 30, 2013. AFP / KPHO-TV/CBS-5-AZ.COM

LOS ANGELES (July 1, 2013): At least 19 firefighters were killed battling a wildfire in Arizona, a spokesman with the Yavapai County Sheriff's office said late Sunday, updating an earlier toll of 18 given by the fire department.

They died sometime late Sunday afternoon while fighting to contain the Yarnell Hill wildfire north of Phoenix, spokesman Steve Skurga told AFP, without giving further details.

He was unable to confirm whether the dead were the same 19 firefighters reported to be missing earlier Sunday by the Arizona State Forestry Division.

Arizona Senator Jeff Blake posted on his twitter feed: "I am sick with the news. Prayers go out to all affected."

A state forestry official told CNN the firefighters were from a local "hotshot" crew who had been digging a fire line to contain the blaze.

"In normal circumstances, when you're digging fire line, you make sure you have a good escape route, and you have a safety zone set up," Art Morrison said.

"Evidently, their safety zone wasn't big enough, and the fire just overtook them."

A Facebook page was created in memory of the fallen firefighters, and showed a picture of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew from Prescott, Arizona, with 19 men in the photo.

The fire broke out Friday and, according to the forestry officials, has covered 800-1,000 acres.

Residents of Yarnell and Peeples Valley were being evacuated, officials said on a fire alert website.

Local news site the Arizona Republic reported the fire was fast moving and that by Sunday night had not been contained.

Federal help was expected starting Monday, it reported, but officials expected that least 250 homes -- about half of the town of Yarnell -- would be destroyed by the inferno. 

DPM: Child conversion bill based on constitution

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin speaks to the media after chairing the Cabinet Committee meeting on Foreign Workers, July 1, 2013. BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR (July 1, 2013): The proposal to allow just one parent to convert children to Islam is based on a Federal Court ruling and provisions in the constitution, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said the government was aware of complaints against the Administration of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013, which had been tabled for a first reading in the Dewan Rakyat.

"The government is aware, and is taking into account all the views. We are looking into the matter.

"The Cabinet has discussed this matter thoroughly, and we realise there is a need for a fair solution to the matter," he told reporters after chairing the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants meeting at Parliament here today.

Muhyiddin was commenting on whether the proposed amendment to Section 107(b) of Administration of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 contravened the 2009 Cabinet decision not to allow unilateral conversions.

He said the concerns of Barisan Nasional component parties which had raised objections would also be considered.

Without elaborating, Muhyiddin said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom would make the relevant announcements before or during the tabling of the Bill.

Asked if this was inconsistent with the 2009 Cabinet decision against the unilateral conversion of minors, he said: "This is according to the court ruling, according to the federal constitution. This is the current scope."