Car Thief Suspect Flees With Malaysian Police Motorcycle

DLM police motorcycle illustration

A suspected car thief was cornered by Malaysian police but managed to escape — but riding off on one of their motorcycles, a report said Friday.

Police pulled over the man in the northern state of Penang on Wednesday as he drove a BMW that was suspected to have been stolen, the New Straits Times reported.

Police asked the man to step out of the car, but while they were inspecting the vehicle, he jumped on one of the police motorcycles.

Police gave chase but he managed to give them the slip.

Police officials could not immediately be reached for more details on the case.

Agence France-Presse

Paradise of Jellyfish lake, Kakaban Island Indonesia's

Kakaban Island has been nominated as a world heritage zone for its four exceptional species of jellyfish.

The island is like the figure “9”, with an atoll or ring-shaped coral in the north and a lagoon inside the circle, which nearby people call Lake Kakaban.

Lake Kakaban contains brackish water with marine biota already undergoing evolution while being trapped inside, producing species different in nature and physical features from those found in the sea. Among them is transparent-body jellyfish (Aurelia aurita), and another lovelier jellyfish the size of the index finger (Tripedalia cystophora).

The one as big as a fist, like a brownish blue incandescent lamp (Martigias papua), is more dominant in number. Along with the three jellyfish species is Cassiopeia ornata, which has become the trademark of Kakaban Island.

What distinguishes these endemic species from those in the open sea is the loss of their stinging capacity. Of the four, Kakaban’s prized Cassiopeia has a unique habit of swimming upside down, with its tentacles facing upward.

There are eight fish species in Lake Kakaban, four notable ones are serinding (Apogon lateralis), puntang (Exyrias puntang), coral fry (Antherinomorus endrachtensis) and needle fish (Zenarchopterus dispar). Rhizopoda roots on the bank of the lake are also found to bear Halimeda and Caulepa algae, resembling small green grapes. Kakaban is thus virtually the last bastion of marine biota in the zone protected from invasion by an ever growing population.

Arif Hadianto, an underwater photographer from Berau Coal Diving Club, mentioned several points on Kakaban Island called Barracuda Point, The Drift, Cabbage Patch, The Wall, Blue Light Cave, The Plateau, Rainbow Run, Diver’s Delight and The North Face.

“The names indicate the different underwater panoramas of various types of diving locations on the island. The animals in this lake produce more colorful lights when it’s getting darker,” he said.

Endemic species: Kakaban Island is home to a few endemic species of jellyfish. Courtesy of Arif Hadianto/Berau Coal Diving ClubResearch conducted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 2004 showed such islands as Maratua, Derawan, Sangalaki and Kakaban were at least home to 444 species of hard coral, 872 species of endemic fish and stingless jellyfish, in the waters of Berau regency. Besides, the largest green turtles in Southeast Asia also lay eggs on the islands.

Kakaban, itself covering 774.2 hectares, belongs to the island group of Derawan. Unlike Derawan with a population of over 4,000 and Maratua with 3,000 Bajo people, Kakaban is uninhabited. Europeans dub the Bajo ethnics sea gypsies or sea nomads. Kakaban in the Bajo tongue means embracing.

dive with jellyfish

It takes 45 minutes from Derawan to Kakaban by speedboat with a capacity of 15 people, costing three times as much as sailing by fishing boat with 4 passengers, which can be hired at only Rp 400,000 for the same distance.


Apart from developing marine tourism on Maratua and Derawan Islands, the Berau regency administration, East Kalimantan, supported by Berau Coal, a coal mining company, is also boosting tourism on Kakaban Island.

Two speedboats sailed rapidly, leaving Maratua Island where The Amazing Derawan Archipelago Underwater Photo Contest was held with photographers from Japan, Australia and other countries participating on March 5-9.

East Kalimantan Deputy Governor Farid Wadjdy and several staff members were apparently stunned by two dolphins leaping around, as if trying to compete with the speedboat.

“After watching underwater photos presenting beautiful submarine panoramas, the view observed from aboard the speedboat is also thrilling with the two dolphins going along,” he pointed out.

East Kalimantan, according to Farid, is not only the second largest province in Indonesia with an area of 245,000 square kilometers or about 11 percent of the country’s territory, but also has marine potential as its major asset.

Map of  Kakaban

It takes 45 minutes from Derawan to Kakaban by speedboat with a capacity of 15 people, costing three times as much as sailing by fishing boat with 4 passengers, which can be hired at only Rp 400,000 for the same distance.

Before reaching the jellyfish lake, Farid and his team had to walk up steps and go down a bank stretching along 120 meters, with the sounds of birds coming from thickets of mangroves on both sides, of the species of tanjang (Bruguiera), apiapi (Avicennia), and pidada (Sonneratia).

Empty island: Several tourists sit in a resort on nearby Maratua Island, the nearest island to Kakaban Island. JP/Indra HarsaputraBerau Regent Makmur expected the provincial administration and central government to build an airport on Maratua Island. With the airport, he hoped the transportation of tourists from Balikpapan to Maratua would be expedited.

Berau Coal spokesman Bintoro Prabowo said Kakaban as an asset of the Berau administration should have its ecosystem conserved. The company has undertaken some activities such as supporting the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) program for the conservation of coral reefs as well as the protection of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata).

A marine expert from Canada, Thomas Tomascik, once called Kakaban a paradise of biological resources in Indonesia. Besides in Micronesia and Philippine islands, brackish water lagoons in the world can also be found on this island. Quote from Jakarta Post

Samsung Galaxy S3 Review

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 is the phone of the moment for good reason, says Matt Warman

Samsung Galaxy S3

By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor 

Price:
From £27 per month on a two year contract 

Samsung Galaxy S3 features at a glance

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 phone has been much promoted – it is, after all, the device that will compete with Apple’s iPhone 5, and carries in many ways all Google’s best hope for its Android operating system.

I had some time with the device before it was released, and now, the day before it launches, I’ve been able to spend several days living with it. Although there are some niggles, I like it now even more than I did before.

The two most striking things about the S3 are its enormous, gorgeous screen and its surprising – by which I mean adequate – battery life. HTC’s rival One X has an excellent screen too, but I prefer the 4.8” version from Samsung. Although it’s based on slightly older technology (Pentile Amoled rather than Super Amoled Plus), that detail shouldn’t get in the way.

In terms of battery, the 2,100mAh batter was the first I’ve used that was able to get me through a whole day, unplugged from about 7am to 11pm, albeit using WiFi rather than the network for much of that time. To do this in such a slim package is probably the S3’s biggest yet least glamorous feature.

Pick up the S3, and the first thing that strikes you is that it’s made of plastic – unlike the iPhone 4S, the S3 does not quite have that weighty feel, and some users will feel that makes it seem relatively cheap. It’s an issue of personal preference, but it’s not one that bothers me. The phone feels very solid, and I’ve not yet managed to scratch its glossy white plastic. The Pebble Blue model, which is very dark blue, is likely to be even less susceptible to that problem because of its metal-effect finish. Rounded corners make it easy enough to reach the top of the phone’s screen even when using it one handed, although people with small hands may struggle. I certainly wouldn’t want a bigger device to use as a phone. The popular Samsung Galaxy Note, however, suggests many people do.

The 8.55mm slim body features a volume button on one side and the power button on the other. But you can also wake up the phone with one of the S3’s flagship new features, S-Voice. This lets you control the phone with your voice, so you can record a phrase to wake up the phone, and four others to make it do other things – take a picture, for instance. In use I found this gimmick increasingly temperamental, but it is a fine demonstration of how voice interaction is going to play a bigger role. Samsung’s currently has more possibilities than Apple’s Siri on the iPhone, but I’ve found Siri to be slightly more consistent in performance. Either way, this is not a technology I’d yet consider ready for everyday use. Apple even calls Siri a beta product.

Once the phone is awake, again it’s the screen that is consistently striking. Instantly responsive in a way that many Android phones still struggle to be, it sits on top of a quad-core processor that is so powerful it can even play a video in a window on screen. This feature feels like it was built to show off the power of the phone rather than for a real use, but it certainly does the former very effectively.

Performance loading web pages is almost instant, and running apps, such as the exclusive Flipboard for Android, the phone is probably the first I’ve used where you almost forget that you’re using a phone rather than a fully fledged computer. Images taken with the excellent, 8MP camera load quickly, for instance, and scrolling through them is fast as well.

That camera is much improved from the S2, although its face detection seems to be in need of a software update. Some reviewers have found problems with focusing in video mode, but I didn’t experience anything major myself.

The front-facing camera, meanwhile, is also used to detect when the phone is being looked at – that ‘Smart Stay’ feature stops the phone’s display from dimming when it’s in use. Although not completely perfect, this is an excellent addition that should become a standard feature on all new smartphones, patent wars not withstanding.

Another similar new feature is ‘Direct Call’ – if you’re looking at a contact, simply picking up the phone and putting it to your face will initiate a call. It’s useful, it works and again it feels like a future standard idea. S-Beam builds on Android’s Beam technology to send phones from one device to another, and it too feels like it’s setting a new, basic standard.

The overall interface on the S3 will be familiar to users of the 20million-selling S2, but it adds important extra features. Holding the home button now brings up the task manager while double-tapping it brings up S-Voice. Where the Galaxy Nexus dispenses with a menu button, retaining it on the S3 makes for easier access to useful features.

Perhaps the best example of these is the option to hide apps from the main menu; that means users can lose but not erase the apps that Samsung insists on installing, such as Video Hub, if they don’t use them enough. That's a small but lovely option.

Indeed, it’s that Samsung tendency to add a host of features that some users may suggest makes the S3 feel bloated – as I’ve used it, that has not been my experience. Almost all the new features, from Smart Stay to Buddy Photo Share, that sends camera images to the people in them, feel useful. Those that aren't, you can hide. Why the torch is labelled 'assistive light', however, is anybdoy's guess.

Performance that, to be honest, feels like it does not yet have the software to properly test it, a gorgeous, huge screen and good, clever additions make the S3 feel, to me, like the best Android phone on the market. HTC’s One X comes very close, but even iPhone users should take a look at Samsung’s latest, greatest offering.
 
Specifications:
 
Screen:
4.8” Super Amoled HD display
Storage:
16/32/64GB depending on model, plus expandable MicroSD card
Cloud storage:
50GB Dropbox for two years
Colour:
Pebble blue or marble white
Battery:
2,100mAh (wireless charging optional extra)
Camera:
8MP rear; 1.9 MP front
Resolution:
720 x 1280 px (306ppi)
RAM:
1GB
Dimensions:
136.6 x 70.6 x 8.55 mm
Weight:
133g
Operating System:
Android 4.0.4
Processor:
Exynos 4 Quad (1.4GHz)

Shouryya Ray cracked puzzles set by Sir Isaac Newton that have baffled mathematicians for more than 350 years

Shouryya Ray has been hailed a genius after working out the problems set by Sir Isaac Newton

Dailymail report: A 16-year-old has managed to crack puzzles which have baffled the world of maths for more than 350 years.

Shouryya Ray has been hailed a genius after working out the problems set by Sir Isaac Newton.

The schoolboy, from Dresden, Germany, solved two fundamental particle dynamics theories which physicists have previously been able to calculate only by using powerful computers.

His solutions mean that scientists can now calculate the flight path of a thrown ball and then predict how it will hit and bounce off a wall.

Shouryya only came across the problems during a school trip to Dresden University where professors claimed they were uncrackable.

'I just asked myself, 'Why not?',' explained Shouryya.

'I think it was just schoolboy naivety. I didn't believe there couldn't be a solution,' he added.

Modest Shouryya began solving complicated equations as a six year old but says he's no genius.

'There are other things at school I wish I was better at - football for one,' he said.
For years Shouryya has enjoyed what he calls 'intrinsic beauty' of maths.

When he was young, his father, an engineer, began testing his brain by setting him arithmetic problems.

After arriving from Calcutta four years ago without knowing any German, Shouryya is now fluent in the language.

His intelligence was quickly noted in class and he was pushed up two years in school - he is currently sitting his exams early.

Modestly Shouryya has pointed out he has weak points as a mathematician, and says he is not as competent in sport.

FUI Said: 'Christians Should be Upset With Gaga'

"Lady Gaga"

The Islamic People’s Forum (FUI) — a unit of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) — said on Tuesday that Indonesian Christians should be upset with Lady Gaga, and opposed to her upcoming concert in Jakarta because she often wears Christian symbols “inappropriately.”

FUI spokesman Munarman compared the debate in Indonesia with the Philippines, where Catholic youth protested against the concert.

“Lady Gaga wore the cross on her genitals. Many of her songs are insulting to Christian beliefs. I wonder why we are the ones that are attacked when opposing her,” Munarman said.

Munarman said the Lady Gaga concert was an exploitation of people who did not understand global capitalism. “People who oppose it still have a healthy mind to reject a fool industry like this,” Munarman said. “This is clearly exploitation.”

Munarman made his statement following a meeting with the House Commission III to clarify the reasons behind the FUI’s objection toward the concert, and to urge the House to support their objections.

He said that he did not believe that the promoter, Big Daddy, would abide with the law by adjusting the concert to adhere to Indonesian culture.

“Lady Gaga refused to be regulated by the Philippines,” he said. “Lady gaga said she was not a [Filipino] and therefore did not have to comply with Philippine law. We should not believe the statements of someone who can not be trusted.”

While some hardline Islamist groups opposed the June 3 concert, the Indonesian Council of Churches said last week that the show should be allowed because it represented freedom of expression.

“Don’t teach our young generation pseudo-formality by wearing good outfits, but being bad on the inside,” Gomar Gultom, secretary general of the Indonesian Council of Churches (PGI), said responding to complaints about Lady Gaga’s wardrobe.

Ask The Atheists, Christians, Shiites and Ahmadis: Indonesia Is No Model for Muslim Democracy

peace was existing ... when we were to accept the difference

It is fashionable these days for Western leaders to praise Indonesia as a model Muslim democracy. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said: “If you want to know whether Islam, democracy, modernity and women’s rights can coexist, go to Indonesia.” And last month Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron, lauded Indonesia for showing that “religion and democracy need not be in conflict.”

Tell that to Asia Lumbantoruan, a Christian elder whose congregation outside Jakarta has recently had two of its partially built churches burned down by Islamist militants. He was stabbed by these extremists while defending a third site from attack in September 2010.

This week in Geneva, the United Nations is reviewing Indonesia’s human rights record. It should call on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to crack down on extremists and protect minorities. While Indonesia has made great strides in consolidating a stable, democratic government after five decades of authoritarian rule, the country is by no means a bastion of tolerance.

The rights of religious and ethnic minorities are routinely trampled. While the Constitution protects religious freedom, regulations against blasphemy and proselytizing are often used to prosecute atheists, Bahais, Christians, Shiites, Sufis and members of the Ahmadiyah faith, a minority Muslim sect. By 2010, Indonesia had over 150 religiously motivated regulations restricting minorities’ rights.

In 2006, Yudhoyono, in a new decree on “religious harmony,” tightened criteria for building a house of worship. The decree is enforced only on religious minorities — often when Islamists pressure local officials not to authorize the construction of Christian churches or to harass and intimidate those worshiping in “illegal” churches, which lack official registration. More than 400 such churches have been closed since Yudhoyono took office in 2004.

Although the government has cracked down on Jemaah Islamiyah, an Al Qaeda affiliate that has bombed hotels, bars and embassies, it has not intervened to stop other Islamist militants who regularly commit less-publicized crimes against religious minorities. Yudhoyono’s government is reluctant to take them on because it rules Indonesia in a coalition with intolerant Islamist political parties. He has courted conservative Islamist elements, even granting them key cabinet positions, which emboldens Islamic extremists to use violence against minorities.

In August 2011, for example, Muslim militants burned down three Christian churches on Sumatra. No one was charged and officials have prevented the congregations from rebuilding their churches. And on the outskirts of Jakarta, two municipalities have refused to obey Supreme Court orders to reopen two sealed churches; Yudhoyono claimed he had no authority to intervene.

In June 2008, the Yudhoyono administration issued a decree requiring the Ahmadiyah sect to “stop spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam.” The government said the decree was necessary to prevent violence against the sect, but local governments used the decree to write even stricter regulations. Muslim militants, who consider the Ahmadiyah heretics, then forcibly shut down more than 30 Ahmadiyah mosques.

In the deadliest attack, in West Java in February 2011, three Ahmadiyah men were killed. A court eventually prosecuted 12 militants for the crime, but handed down paltry sentences of only four to six months.

Yudhoyono has also failed to protect ethnic minorities who have peacefully called for independence in Papua and the Maluku Islands. During demonstrations in Papua on May 1, one protester was killed and 13 were arrested. And last October, the government brutally suppressed the Papuan People’s Congress, beating dozens and killing three people. While protesters were jailed and charged with treason, the police chief in charge of security that day was promoted.

Almost 100 people remain in prison for peacefully protesting. Dozens are ill, but the government has denied them proper treatment, claiming it lacks the money. Even the Suharto dictatorship allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit political prisoners, yet the Yudhoyono government has banned the ICRC from working in Papua.

Instead of praising Indonesia, nations that support tolerance and free speech should publicly demand that Indonesia respect religious freedom, release political prisoners and lift restrictions on media and human rights groups in Papua.

Yudhoyono needs to take charge of this situation by revoking discriminatory regulations, demanding that his coalition partners respect the religious freedom of all minorities in word and in deed, and enforcing the constitutional protection of freedom of worship. He must also make it clear that Islamist hard-liners who commit or incite violence and the police who fail to protect the victims will be punished. Only then will Indonesia deserve Cameron and Clinton’s praise.

The New York Times

Andreas Harsono is a researcher for the Asia division at Human Rights Watch.

Sukhoi Victims Handed Over to Families During a Ceremony at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport

A man prays in front of a coffin containing the remains of a victim of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash

The remains of all 45 victims of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash were officially handed over to their families during a ceremony at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta on Wednesday.

The ceremony started at 10 a.m. and took place at the arrival terminal of the airport. Transportation Minister E. E. Mangindaan led the ceremony. Quote from thejakartaglobe.com.

A total of 45 coffins containing the victims’ remains, with funeral wreaths on top of them, were lined up at the terminal. Hundreds of people, mostly relatives of the victims, gathered to pay their respects.

After the ceremony, the remains of most victims were brought home by their family members for burial.

All the funeral-related costs will be covered by Trimarga Rekatama, the Indonesian representative of Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, which manufactured the crashed Sukhoi plane, according to Trimarga technical consultant Indra Djani.

A total of 45 people, including eight Russians, one French citizen and one American, were onboard the plane when it crashed on the slope of Mount Salak in West Java on May 9, during a demonstration flight.

Most of the passengers were representatives of Indonesian airlines invited by Sukhoi to test the plane as part of its six-country Asian road show meant to lure prospective buyers.

An Elementary Cchool in Solo Receives Complaints for Book Depicting Prophet Muhammad

A page from the book "Interesting Stories of the Prophets' Childhood," which displays a blurred illustration of the Prophet Muhammad immediately following his birth. (JG Photo/Hangga Brata)

Solo, Central Java. An elementary school in Solo has received complaints for having books in its library which display pictures of the Prophet Muhammad, which is prohibited in Islam.

Some parents have filed complaints against SD Jamsaren to the Solo office of the Religious Affairs Ministry about the book, “Interesting Stories of the Prophets’ Childhood". quote from thejakartaglobe.com

The complainants also accused the Ministry of distributing the book to the school, as evidenced by stamps in the book identifying them as donations from the Ministry in 2011. But Ahmad Nasirin, the head of the Solo office of the Religious Affairs Ministry, denied that his office circulated the books to Solo schools.

“We also object to the pictures of Rasulullah [the prophet] in the book. But most of the content is all right, and there is nothing wrong with the stories. But we will definitely withdraw the copies,” Ahmad said in Solo on Wednesday. “They were not printed in Solo but in East Jakarta in 2010,” he added.

The book contains stories about the childhood of 11 prophets, including Muhammad. There are four rather blurred illustrations of him, including when Muhammad had just been born and when he herded a flock of sheep in the desert.

“We do need to intensively call on schools and Muslim parents to more selectively pick reading for students,” Ahmad added.

Muchus Budi Rahayu, one of the parents who complained about the book, said he learned of the pictures from his child, a student of the school.

“My child told me there were pictures of Prophet Muhammad,” Muchus said. “I thought it was a joke, but after I checked, apparently it’s true. I’ve asked the school to return the books to the Religious [Affairs] Ministry because the pictures are improper,” adding that his child told him there were more than 10 copies of the book in the library.

The school, meanwhile, said the book was among hundreds of copies of other books donated by the Religious Affairs Ministry.

A representative of the school, who refused to be named, admitted that the school had immediately put the books inside the library without first reading them.

FPI Buys 150 Tickets to Stop Lady Gaga Concert

A photo posted to an Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) member's Facebook page shows an FPI member holding a ticket to Lady Gaga's upcoming concert in Jakarta

Hard-line group the Islamic Defenders Front has purchased 150 tickets to upcoming Lady Gaga concert, which it will use to enter the venue and stop the show, a spokesman for the group said on Monday.

“The tickets are original, the price around Rp 400,000 [each],” FPI’s Bekasi chapter chairman Murhali said on Monday as quoted by thejakartaglobe.com.

Murhali had posted on his Facebook account a picture of an FPI member, wearing a turban and sunglasses to conceal his face, holding a ticket.

The photo’s caption said, “We have gotten Lady Gaga tickets, not to watch [the concert] but for us to enter. Whatever will be will be, we’re ready for the risk.”

Murhali told detik.com that FPI was ready to stop the concert, but he stressed that FPI would not attack the audience. The only target was Lady Gaga and her crew, he said.

“Hopefully, the concert is canceled,” Murhali said. “We have sent a letter to Lady Gaga through our friends in Canada.

“We hope [the promoter] will return the money if the concert canceled.”

FPI has previously threatened to intercept Lady Gaga on her way from the airport if she dares set foot in Jakarta.

Indonesia : Gaga Brouhaha Proves That ‘hard-line groups’ Run This Country

 

The US pop diva Lady Gaga’s scheduled concert fiasco proves that certain hard-line groups have been successfully pushing local authorities to meet their demands, indirectly controlling the nation, a Muslim scholar says.

Rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University Komaruddin Hidayat told The Jakarta Post that certain groups within society had successfully influenced the government to intervene against Indonesian’s freedom of expression, adding that authorities should have protected it.

“This is a setback and a pathetic situation in which we find the public sphere where Indonesians should be able to express themselves without restraint in fact faces intervention from one community that has become a powerful force in this nation,” he said Wednesday morning.

He added that while hard-liner groups had pressured the authorities, several members of the government apparently had relented to their demands, saying that it was a “politically correct” move to do.

“This situation proves that there are fraudulent officials that have been using the hard-liner groups to further their own political interests,” he said.

Komaruddin was responding to the National Police’s refusal to issue permits to Lady Gaga’s Jakarta concert.
The Police claimed that the eccentric singer “does not resemble the country’s local culture.”

Lady Gaga is slated to perform at the Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta on June 3.
The singer, known for her pop songs such as “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance”, has sparked strong opposition from groups such as the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Islam Defenders Front (FPI), United Development Party (PPP) and the Islamic People’s Forum (FUI).

MUI and FUI sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono requesting him to consider rejecting the concert’s permit.

In 2007, American R&B diva Beyonce was scheduled to perform in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, but the concert was cancelled because the sexy songster refused to abide by the nation’s so-called “decent” dress-code for women.

The Kuala Lumpur concert’s cancellation turned out to be Jakarta’s gain, because the diva decided to stop in the capital of the biggest Southeast Asian economy instead.

In 2012, however, it was Indonesia’s law enforcement agencies that denied issuing a permit for Gaga’s concert in Jakarta.

Komaruddin refused to comment on the changing situation but affirmed that the hard-liner groups were better off “fighting corruption practices” than disrupting Indonesians’ freedom of expression. (asa)