From Malaysiakini

The High Court today ordered New Straits Times Press (M) to pay RM100,000 in damages to Anwar Ibrahim over a defamatory article published in 2002.

The court also ordered the media giant to pay RM20,000 in costs to the PKR leader.

Earlier the court ruled that NSTP had defamed Anwar in its article published in the New Straits Times on March 2, 2002.

The article, titled ‘Anwar’s link to US lobbyist’, claimed that the opposition leader had stashed RM3 billion in foreign accounts and had foreign links to Western interests. The article was based on a report which was carried in the New Republic magazine.

In making his decision, judicial commissioner Harminder Singh Dhaliwall said that NSPT could not rely on the defence of qualified privilege as the “article was sinister and more than a reproduction of the New Republic article”.

“The said article is far more sinister than the reproduction,” he said.

“Hence, the court finds the article to be libellous and the defendants have to pay the damages to the plaintiff (Anwar),” he added.

Anwar had sued New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd and its former group editor-in-chief Abdullah Ahmad for RM100 million over the defamatory article.

The NSTP article was based on another article – ‘The Bush Administration’s dubious envoy to Taiwan’ – that was published in the political weekly magazine New Republic’s March 2002 issue. Anwar filed the suit on July 4, 2003.

From Malaysia Kini

Any reasonable person would draw the conclusion that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is somehow linked to the disappearance of P Balasubramaniam, according to the private investigator’s lawyer.

“The facts seem to point to the possibility that they wanted him out of the way and delegated this job to others close to them to execute,” said Americk Singh Sidhu (left) in an interview with Malaysiakini.

“As matters stand, I am concerned about the involvement of Nazim (Razak), Najib’s younger brother. The question is why would he have an interest in Bala’s disappearance if it were not to protect his brother?” asked Americk.

Balasubramaniam recently emerged from hiding to reveal that he had met Nazim, an architect, the night before he made a dramatic reversal and recanted his first statutory declaration in which he alleged that Najib had close ties with murdered Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Balasubramaniam also claimed that he was offered RM5 million by one Deepak, a businessman close to Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, to retract his first statutory declaration.

Najib had repeatedly denied speculations that he was behind Balasubramaniam’s retraction.

In the interview, Americk recounted how he was introduced to Balasubramaniam, on his reaction to the retraction of Balasuubramaniam’s first statutory declaration and his subsequent meeting with the former police officer after he emerged from hiding a year later. (more…)

Dari Harakah Daily

Oleh Dzulfikar Mashoor

Presiden Teras Pengupayaan Melayu (TERAS), Azmi Abdul Hamid pagi tadi menganggap keputusan kabinet memperkenalkan pelan Memertabat Bahasa Melayu Dan Memperkasa Bahasa Inggeris (MBMBI) sebagai sesuatu yang janggal.

Anggapan tersebut sebagai respon pada pengumuman Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin semalam, bagi mengantikan pelan Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI).

“Walaupun pelan penggantian ini (MBMBI) bermula 2011, setahun lebih awal, saya masih melihat ianya janggal.”

“Sepatutnya kebinet mansuhkan terus PPSMI dan kembalikan sistem pendidikan negara pada sistem yang asal.”

Beliau juga berpendapat bahawa kabinet seharusnya berusaha untuk memperkukuh semula bahasa kebangsaan. (more…)