Another ShahRay 'Copy Paste' Piece Of Mind
Does my box look big on this? ... woman rides her tricycle through Guangdong Province in China
Box clever ... worker with her polystyrene cargo
A female worker was bent almost double as she carried around 100 polystyrene boxes on her three-wheeler.
She couldn’t see a thing coming from the left or right as she pedalled through China’s manufacturing city of Dongguan, Guangdong Province, on Thursday.
Four nations were blacklisted as uncooperative tax havens after G-20 leaders declared the age of banking secrecy was over and said they would no longer tolerate shady havens draining away badly needed tax revenue.
At the request of the Group of 20 summit of rich and developing nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development named the Philippines, Uruguay, Costa Rica and the Malaysian territory of Labuan as the worst offenders, saying they had refused to adopt new rules on financial openness.
Leaders also said Thursday that nations that refuse to exchange tax information could in the future face tough sanctions - including the withdrawal of financing by the World Bank or International Monetary Fund.
"The time of banking secrecy has passed," French President Nicholas Sarkozy said following the summit. "Everyone around the table wants an end to tax havens. Everyone knows we need sanctions."
The announcement reflects mounting concern that banking secrecy in tax havens has helped to worsen the economic crisis by disguising the true value of some global assets.
Anti-poverty activists say such places provide corrupt officials places to stash illicit funds, often depriving poor nations of needed resources.
The OECD has divided countries into three categories: those who comply with rules on sharing tax information, those who say they will but have yet to act and nations which have not yet agreed to change banking secrecy practices.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which both have strong banking secrecy traditions, said last month they would adopt international rules on tax cooperation and were ready to comply with G-20 demands.
Liechtenstein, Switzerland's tiny Alpine neighbor, said it has already met with British officials to prepare for the new standards. Monaco said earlier that it would be more transparent with foreign tax authorities.
In return they were spared the fate of being blacklisted but were left in a gray area of countries that still have to implement their commitment to accept new information-exchange standards. China supported the blacklisting, but would not agree to have two territories, Hong Kong and Macau, classified as uncooperative tax havens.
Potential sanctions for transgressors include extra audits of those who use tax havens and curbs on tax deductions claimed by businesses using the territories.
In their communique, leaders said they may consider further penalties in their bilateral relations with tax haven territories. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Brown and President Barack Obama played a key role in pushing for a crackdown on tax havens.
At least 35 offshore tax havens, from Britain's Channel Islands to the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean, are under increasing pressure to provide more information to international authorities to prevent people from evading taxes or hiding income by shifting money to such places.
Stephen Timms, financial secretary to the British Treasury, said a culture of banking secrecy had worsened global economic problems.
"That lack of transparency - that opaqueness - has contributed to the severity of the problems we are seeing in the world economy at the moment," he said. - AP
A veiled Muslim mother was turned away from her child's school after being told visitors' faces should be visible at all times (picture posed by model)
A mother was barred from a parents' evening at her son's school as she was wearing a veil.
The 34-year-old was turned away on security and safety grounds after arriving in clothes which covered every part of her body except her eyes.
The incident in Blackburn follows a furore over comments by the area's MP Jack Straw about women who cover their faces.
Mr Straw, now Justice Secretary, said in 2006 that veils could make community relations harder as they were a 'visible statement of separation and difference'.
In the latest controversy last week, the mother of one was furious after being told that visitors' faces should be visible at all times.
She insisted that her religion should not affect her access to Our Lady and St John Catholic Art College, a mixed school for 11 to 16-year-olds where she was also a pupil. The woman, who lives in
Blackburn, said: 'I don't like going to the school any more because I leave crying.
'I can understand that people should be identified but I am just a normal person, trying to lead a normal life. Why should how I dress make a difference?'
Police were called to the school when she refused to remove her niqab or leave the premises.
Her wearing of the veil prompted a change of school policy after another parents' evening in 2007.
'I got told not to go into the hall because I was wearing a veil,' said the mother.
'I explained I was willing to take the veil off in front of female teachers but not the male teachers.'
School rules requiring hoodies and crash helmets be removed to gain entry were amended to include full-face veils after this.
Three years ago, Blackburn MP Jack Straw suggested women who wear veils over their face can make community relations harder
The woman added: 'This week at parents' evening, I signed in and saw two teachers in the library as I was not allowed in the main hall.
'Then I was asked by a member of staff whether I was aware of the school's policy on identification. My son enjoys going to the school and has settled in. I am in a strange situation where I can't see how he is progressing or even go to drop him off inside.
'If I had been told this was their intended policy, then maybe I would not have considered sending my son to the school.'
Anjum Anwar, head of Woman's Voice, an advice group for Asian woman in Lancashire, has been working with the mother and school to try to find a solution.
She said: 'We had hoped that the situation would have been resolved.
'We are saddened to hear this young lady is still not given access to participate in her child's education because of her faith.'
Headteacher Colette Gillen said it was important for parents to discuss their children's progress with staff.
Our Lady and St John Catholic Art College, in Blackburn, Lancs, where the incident occurred
She has offered to set up one-to-one meetings between the mother and teachers in her office.
'While this would be acceptable, the difficulty would be if a number of ladies wearing veils were free to wander the corridors or rooms,' said Mrs Gillen.
'It would not be feasible to monitor who is who.'
Mrs Gillen pointed to the Ofsted report rating the school as 'outstanding' for its community cohesion, care and guidance.
Many Muslim women in the UK wear a hijab or head scarf with only a minority wearing the full-length niqab veil.
Mr Straw yesterday refused to comment.
"Uncle Zorro, Mat Shah is not on the list."
Mat Shah was a technician with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. He was originally alleged to be KMM member, later alleged to be JI member.
People, take a look at this kid. He is Mat Shah's son Suhaib. Read and study his face and tell me he has no story to tell you..... a story of an eight-year old whose father was snatched away one night in April 2002. On the 18 April it would be Suhaib's 7 years without the comforting embrace that all fathers give to their children to encourage, to console and to assure.
What manner of man or government can orchestrate such a despicable act to sever the bonds between a father and a son. Suhaib is 15 now and in our conversations over the last three years he still cannot understand why the government is afraid to charge his father in court. It is during these adolescent formative years that a child confused is a child damaged.
Laila, over the years has learnt to cope, has learned to be strong, but like all of us she too is human. Her religion, her friends, her son and the GMI cause have kept her focused. But like all of us we have our up days and our down days. We have family....she has a fractured family. Think about it. Pray about it. You owe it to Mat Shah, Laila and young Suhaib.
Timbalan setiausaha agung MCA menggesa Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak mewujudkan jawatan timbalan perdana menteri dan timbalan pengerusi BN untuk diisi presidennya bagi mencermin “perkongsian kuasa sebenar”.
“Rakyat Malaysia pelbagai kaum telah lama menerima dan memberi sokongan penuh kepada ideologi pentadbrain berasaskan kepada perkongsian kuasa di negara ini.
“Bagaimanapun, selepas 52 tahun merdeka, kita terus merasakan bahawa perkongsian kuasa itu hanya satu slogan dan tidak mencermin situasi sebenar, yang kita amat harapkan menjadi kenyataan pada suatu hari nanti.
“Oleh itu, rakyat Malaysia kini kecewa dan tidak puas hati dengan situasi sebenar kita sekarang kerana ia hanyalah satu cakap kosong,” kata Datuk Loke Yuen Yow.
Menurutnya lagi, jawatan kedua timbalan perdana menteri untuk presiden MCA bukan sahaja membantu merealisasikan konsep perkongsian kuasa, tetapi juga menunjukkan bahawa kerajaan memberi kepentingan kepada peranan dan sumbangan kaum Cina dalam proses pembinaan negara.
Loke menambah, jika diberi jawatan seperti dituntut, presiden MCA boleh, dalam kapasitinya sebagai anggota kabinet, membantu menggariskan dasar yang lebih adi dan berfaedah kepada semua pihak, terutama masyarakat Cina dalam ekonomi dan pendidikan.
Beliau juga menegaskan bahawa MCA telah mewakili perjuangan masyarakat Cina, untuk mencapai kemerdekaan negara, bersama Umno dan MIC pada 1957.
“Oleh itu, dalam proses pembinaan negara, sumbangan yang dihulurkan oleh MCA dan masyarakat Cina adalah amat banyak dan sangat besar,” tambahnya.
Pada masa yang sama, Loke mengulangi lagi desakan awal MCA bahawa presidennya mesti dilantik sebagai timbalan pengerusi Dewan Tertinggi BN.
“(Pelantikan) ini akan memanifestasikan senario sebenar perkongsian kuasa bawah pentadbiran Datuk Seri Najib,” tambahnya.
“Sebagai seorang pemimpin yang bijak dan berpandangan jauh, Datuk Seri Najib perlu melihat peri pentingnya dan keperluan mewujudkan jawatan-jawatan timbalan perdana menteri Cina dan timbalan pengerusi Dewan Tertinggi BN - yang kedua-duanya dipegang oleh presiden MCA.”
BRAD Pitt dilaporkan telah memberi kata dua kepada kekasihnya, Angelina Jolie - sama ada untuk berkahwin dengannya atau mengambil jalan berpisah saja.
Jolie, yang berharap untuk mempunyai ramai anak bersama Pitt, telah diberitahu oleh aktor tersebut bahawa mereka tidak akan mempunyai anak lagi melainkan Jolie bersetuju untuk berkahwin dengannya.
"Pitt memberitahunya, 'kahwini saya, atau semua ini akan berakhir'. Dia memang benar-benar tidak mahu anak selagi mereka tidak berkahwin," kata sumber menerusi majalah Brit.
Pitt dikatakan cukup risau apabila melihat Jolie semakin tidak mempunyai masa bersama anak-anak kerana sibuk dengan jadual lakonannya.
"Hubungan mereka agak tegang. Pitt percaya perkahwinan adalah langkah terbaik untuk menyelamatkan hubungan mereka," kata sumber tersebut.
Lebih membuatkan Pitt berang ialah apabila Jolie mendapatkan nasihat bekas suaminya, Billy Bob Thronton setelah Pitt mencadangkan agar dia dan aktres itu berjumpa pakar kaunseling.
"Ini membuatkan perselisihan semakin besar. Pitt tidak kisah Jolie berjumpa bekas suaminya, tetapi dia tidak faham kenapa Jolie perlu bertanyakan nasihat Billy tentang kaunseling itu sedangkan dia amat marah apabila Pitt mula-mula mengajukan cadangan tersebut," katanya.
