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June 19, 2008 Johor Sultan vows to find ways to reclaim Pedra Branca JOHOR BARU - SULTAN of Johor Sultan Iskandar Ismail has vowed to find ways to reclaim Pedra Branca. Sultan Iskandar said he wanted to remind all that he had not forgotten his island and that it was rightfully under the state's sovereignty and not Singapore. 'Sampai bila masa, saya cari hatta ikhtiar balik benda itu ke Johor (It doesn't matter how long it takes, but I will find ways until the island is returned to Johor),' he said in the closing of his speech before opening the Johor state assembly here on Thursday. The ruler said he was confident that the state would continue to prosper economically thus bringing benefits to the people and reminded the people to reject racial or religious extremism. The Sultan's words caught everyone off-guard. Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said the state government 'clearly heard' what the Sultan said. 'We heard and listened loud and what he has declared,' he said, without elaborating further. On May 23, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over the disputed Pedra Branca, while Malaysia owned Middle Rocks. On the other disputed territory of South Ledge, the ICJ ruled that it belonged to the country in whose territorial waters the rocky outcrop is located. The ICJ decision brought to a close the 28-year-old territorial dispute between both countries, and was immediately described as a 'win-win' outcome by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, who led the Malaysian side at The Hague where the court is located. -- THE STAR/ANN Good! Got fighting spirit.

Taken from http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090317/tts-...ig-972e412.html WASHINGTON (AFP) - - President Barack Obama Monday vowed to block multi-million-dollar bonus payouts by bailed-out insurer AIG as he confronted intensifying public anger against Wall Street excess.ADVERTISEMENT The controversy escalated as New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo started to slap subpoenas on American International Group, after the crippled firm ignored a Monday afternoon deadline to divulge details of the bonuses. Conscious of the potential backlash as his administration readies new support for the financial industry, Obama said the planned bonuses for AIG executives and traders revealed over the weekend were an "outrage." "This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed," he said, in a rare flash of public anger, at a White House event with owners of small businesses. "Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less 165 million dollars in extra pay," Obama said. "How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" he said, adding half in jest that "I'm choked up with anger here" as his voice caught at one point. On Sunday, administration officials said there was little that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner could do legally to stop the bonuses, because they were promised under AIG employment contracts before the insurer was bailed out. But Obama, noting the substantial government support extended to AIG, said: "I've asked Secretary Geithner to use that leverage and pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole." Massive losses at a London trading division have already forced the US government to pump some 150 billion dollars into AIG, leaving the company 80 percent owned by the taxpayer. On March 2, the administration unveiled another emergency injection of 30 billion dollars. According to widespread reports, the bonuses are largely going to traders at the very London-based financial products unit that is blamed for AIG's spectacular fall from grace. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration was looking to attach stricter conditions to the latest infusion of 30 billion dollars. "Certainly, any person that is subject to these bonuses ... should think long and hard about whether, given the performance of the company, this is either warranted or appropriate," he told reporters. Acknowledging the public's anger at how 700 billion dollars in government bailout money for Wall Street has been used, Gibbs said the AIG case "offends our common sense, offends our sense of value, and seems completely misplaced." The administration is at risk of deeper public anger after AIG revealed on Sunday that it had passed on 22.4 billion dollars of government money to many foreign-owned banks that signed up for its exotic insurance against risky bets. France's Societe Generale and Germany's Deutsche Bank were among the top three recipients after AIG used the bailout funds to cover so-called credit default swaps offered by the London office. AIG was deemed by the US government to be too big to fail, given the intricate web of ties it built with other financial institutions through the credit default swaps linked to the tanking property market. Obama said he wanted Congress to pass tougher financial regulation "so we don't find ourselves in this position again." In a letter to Geithner Saturday, government-appointed AIG boss Edward Liddy said the bonuses could not be canceled due to the threat of lawsuits for breach of employment contracts. He also argued that AIG risked an exodus of senior employees unless it awarded incentives to retain "the best and the brightest talent." That argument is being ridiculed in Congress as the Obama administration girds for the tough sell of asking for more bailout money to help US banks clear out their toxic assets. John Boehner, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, said the "outrageous" AIG bonuses proved his party's case that Obama must spell out an "exit plan" to wind down his administration's hefty market interventions. Good money indeed! I agree all these people should be fired instead!

SINGAPORE, June 17, 2008 (AFP) - Finnish telecom giant Nokia has launched two new email-capable handsets for business users and vowed to defend its position as the world's leading mobile phone maker. Nokia said the E71 and E66 were pre-loaded with Microsoft's popular email programme and would cater to business professionals who wanted easy and instant access to their messages. "With the E series, we want to serve people who are passionate about their work," said Chris Carr, Nokia's vice president for regional sales, at a launch in Singapore late Monday. The two phones would be available in July and support email accounts from key Internet service providers such Yahoo! and Google's Gmail, the firm said. It said there were an estimated 1.5 billion email users globally and that there were set to be four billion mobile users by the end of 2009. "We have grown our share with the broadest portfolio of devices in the industry... Nokia remains the undisputed leader and it is a leadership mantle we will not relinquish," Carr said. The business mobile sector is currently dominated by Canada's Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry smart phone combining a mobile phone and personal digital assistant (PDA). The BlackBerry allows users to browse the Internet, use e-mail and make calls and has proven a big hit with business executives worldwide. Apple is also taking aim at the corporate market with the launch of its touch-screen-activated 3G iPhone, which will come with faster Internet access and more features for business users than its initial iPhone. South Korea's Samsung on Monday unveiled its latest smart phone, a touch-screen model to be commercially launched in Southeast Asia this week. The Samsung and Nokia launches came on the eve of CommunicAsia. The event is billed as the region's leading information and communications technology conference and exhibition and began Tuesday in Singapore. R U Interested ? [rolleyes]

Straits Times, 3 March 2005 GENEVA - BMW chief executive Helmut Panke has admitted that quality at the German luxury carmaker is failing to meet its expectations, and has pledged to regain a position in the top three most reliable manufacturers. German carmakers, once renowned for their high quality, have seen their cars become more prone to breakdowns as the electronic systems used in cars grow increasingly complicated, with Mercedes particularly badly affected. However, BMW has also seen its reputation slide and was last year ranked 13th among 37 manufacturers for reliability and 12th for initial quality, in an influential study by JD Power. 'I admit that we're not where we want to be,' Dr Panke said in an interview. 'We need to be in the top three for both quality and reliability. Position number eight or nine is not good enough.' But he added that improving that position was not a strategic goal. BMW's 7-series was last year ranked as the worst European car for reliability by Consumer Reports in the United States. Asian carmakers dominate the reliability stakes with Lexus at the head, but mass-market models such as Hyundai rank higher than BMW or Mercedes, which fell to 28th place. Dr Panke said he expected Lexus, made by Toyota, to grow increasingly aggressive in Europe as it tried to break into the market. His comments came as BMW unveiled the latest two models as part of an ambitious programme to branch out from its traditional three products, the 3-, 5- and 7-series. He told a press conference that BMW would develop a multi-purpose vehicle, or what many see as a people carrier, as well as a surprise new model. This would combine the appeal of a coupe with the raised seating position more associated with sports utility vehicles. BMW officials admitted the announcement would come as a surprise but said it was designed to show investors that the company's model offensive had not ground to a halt after the recent launches of its 6-series coupe, 1-series hatchback and Z4 convertible. -- FINANCIAL TIMES