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Singapore Swimmers Continue Hot Streak

Singapore won four gold medals out of six SEA Games swimming finals at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on Tuesday.

First, Joseph Schooling won the men’s 100 fly in a new Games record of 52.13, although it was off his national mark of 51.69.

Then, Tao Li won Singapore’s 50th gold medal at this Games when she clocked 1:02.67 in the women’s 100m back.

Quah Zheng Wen created history for Singapore when he won gold No. 51 in the men’s 400 IM in 4:23.50.

With it, the Republic surpassed its best-ever gold medal haul of 50 at a single SEA Games, set on home ground in 1993.

The men’s 400 free relay team then ended the night with a bang. The quartet of Joseph Schooling, Danny Yeo, Clement Lim and Quah Zheng Wen clocked 3:19.59 to finish almost six seconds ahead of second-placed Malaysia.

The Republic also won silvers through Quah Ting Wen (women’s 200 fly) and Pang Sheng Jun (men’s 400 IM).

Source: www.tnp.sg

June 10, 2015
Shanti Pereira Grabs Bronze In Women’s 100m Sprint

Shanti Pereira ended Singapore’s 42-year wait for a women’s sprint medal on the tracks by clinching the 100m bronze on Tuesday evening.

The sprinter enjoyed an uncharacteristically good start and clocked 11.88s to finish third in the 100m race at the National Stadium.

Kayla Richardson of the Philippines won her race in a photo-finish, edging ahead of Thailand’s Tassaporn Wanakit after both clocked a time of 11.76s.

Her win gave the Philippines a double as Eric Cray blew the opposition away in the men’s event with a new personal best of 10.25s, finishing ahead of Indonesians Boby Yaspi and Iswandi, who both clocked 10.45s.

Thailand’s Jirapong Meenapra, the 100m and 200m champion at the last SEA Games in Myanmar, finished a disappointing fifth in 10.48sec.

Singapore’s two sprinters, Calvin Kang (10.47s, personal best) and Amirudin Jamal (10.55s) finished fourth and sixth, respectively.

Source: www.tnp.sg

June 10, 2015
Indonesia’s Aceh Province Introduces Curfew Banning Women From Work, Entertainment Venues After 11PM

The capital of Indonesia’s Aceh province has banned women from working or attending entertainment venues late at night, legally requiring them to be home by 11:00pm, Banda Aceh’s mayor says.

Internet cafes, tourist sites, sports facilities and entertainment venues have been instructed to refuse service to women after 11:00pm unless they are accompanied by a husband or male family member.

The directive, which came into effect on June 4, will also bar women from working in such businesses after the cut-off time, in a bid to protect them from sexual harassment.

“Our aim is to provide protection to female employees, especially those who work in area such as cafes, restaurants, internet cafes and tourist attractions,” Banda Aceh mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal said.

“Women in Aceh are vulnerable to sexual harassment so we want to protect them from untoward incidents.”

The new measures also ban children from being unaccompanied in public places after 10:00pm.

Businesses that insist on making their female employees work beyond the curfew risk losing their licence, while women who break the rules would be reprimanded.

“They will be asked to go home and be given a warning,” Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal said.

Women in certain professions, like nursing, are exempt from the curfew, she said.

Aceh is the only Indonesian province that implements Islamic law and makes homosexuality, gambling and drinking alcohol punishable by caning. It also reprimands women for wearing form-fitting clothing.

The chief of Indonesia’s national commission for violence against women said the measure would only restrict women’s freedom and threaten their livelihoods.

“The government should stop meddling in women’s affairs,” said Azriana, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name.

“If the intention of the Aceh government is to provide protection for women, it must instead educate the public and men to respect women or provide security at the nightspots.”

The decision comes just a month after unmarried men and women were banned from riding together on a motorbike in one of Aceh’s districts.

Indonesia has the world’s biggest Muslim population, but the vast majority practise a moderate form of the faith.

Source: www.abc.net.au

June 10, 2015
39 Year Old Youth Counsellor Jailed Seven Months For Taking Nude Photos Of 12 Year Old Girl

He volunteered by counselling troubled youths. Yet, the 39-year-old preyed on the 12-year-old daughter of a friend, asking her to strip for his camera when she asked him for money.

Today (June 9), District Judge Low Wee Ping sentenced the man, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, to seven months’ jail and chided him.

“I find it ironic that you were once a counsellor for troubled youths, yet you did this to the girl,” said the judge.

District Judge Low also took issue with the defence lawyer for underplaying the severity of the crime. “If you think it is merely taking a naked photo, then you don’t know what you’ve done and what the law is trying to protect,” he said, adding that “sexual exploitation of a child” was a better description of what had transpired.

The court heard that the man was a friend of the victim’s mother, and had on previous occasions given the victim small sums of money ranging from S$2 to S$10.

On April 25, 2012, the victim asked the man for S$300 to buy a handphone. The man called the victim’s friend, a 17-year-old sales assistant, later in the evening asking them to go to his Ang Mo Kio home. As she was uncomfortable going there alone, the victim asked her friend to accompany her.

Once there, he said he would teach them how to make money by becoming a “hostess”. Despite her reluctance, she was persuaded to strip naked and pose on the bed for a photo, which the man took with his mobile phone. The next day, a family friend of the girl’s reported the incident to the police.

Today, defence lawyer S S Dhillon argued that the victim was a “runaway girl” and that her mum had confided in his client about her problems. The man had not touched her either, he added.

Pleading for leniency, he highlighted the man’s “contributions to society”, such as speaking to delinquents about not re-offending and voluntarily contributing S$27,000 to eight Nepalese earthquake victims.

But deputy public prosecutor Dillon Kok pressed for a sentence of six to eight months’ imprisonment, citing the aggravating factors in the case, including the victim’s young age and his persuading her to pose naked despite her reluctance. “It is not even taking a picture of a naked girl. It’s child porn,” Mr Kok added.

The maximum punishment for the offence under the Children and Young Persons Act is five years’ jail and/or a S$10,000 fine.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 10, 2015
White House Press Room Evauated Briefly After Bomb Threat

WASHINGTON — Secret Service officers on Tuesday evacuated the White House briefing room “as a precaution” after Washington police received a bomb threat by telephone at 1:53 p.m. specifically concerning the room, Secret Service officials said.

The evacuation was limited to the briefing room and did not affect any other sections of the White House, the Secret Service said. Tourists were also moved away from the North Lawn to the far side of Lafayette Square.

Journalists and White House officials first gathered just outside the West Wing, and were then told to assemble inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is across from the West Wing.

After a short time, the news media was allowed back into the briefing room.

Earlier on Tuesday, multiple floors of the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill were evacuated and one entrance closed after the Capitol Police received a call reporting a suspicious package in one room. The building was reopened a little while later. At the same time, Capitol Police responded to a report of another suspicious package at the Russell Senate Office Building, which turned out to be an unattended cooler.

Source: www.nytimes.com

June 10, 2015