Revenge porn: Not a laughing matter
The number of British people who have been a victim of so-called revenge porn has almost doubled in the last two years, researchers said on Thursday, calling the figure "deeply worrying". She said they had hoped revenge porn would have decreased as the issue became more widely discussed and condemned. Of the 2,000 people surveyed, more than 40% knew someone who had been a victim of revenge porn and 22% knew someone who had been threatened with revenge porn. Domestic abuse charity Refuge has described threats to share intimate images as a "devastating form of domestic abuse" that ruins lives. Slater and Gordon commissioned its first survey in 2019 after family lawyers noticed fears around revenge porn were cropping up as divorce proceedings turned toxic.
Source:The Star
March 25, 2021 00:00 UTC
Former Spanish PMs Rajoy and Aznar testify in corruption case
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's two former prime ministers - Mariano Rajoy and Jose Maria Aznar - were testifying on Wednesday in a High Court corruption trial involving former prominent members of their conservative People' Party (PP). It is the first time that Aznar, who led Spain between 1996 and 2004, testifies in a corruption case, while Rajoy, premier in 2011-2018, already testified in a related trial in 2017. The case stems from a corruption scandal related to the use of a slush fund in the 1990s and early 2000s to illegally finance campaigns, which resulted in dozens of high-ranking PP members getting jailed. He stepped down as party leader and went back to his office as property registrar. Aznar, who stepped down as party leader in 2004 and has worked in the private sector since, has also denied wrongdoing.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 16:39 UTC
Pope names prominent Chilean clerical abuse survivor to Vatican panel
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has appointed a prominent Chilean survivor of clerical sex abuse to a Vatican commission which focuses on education to prevent abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. Juan Carlos Cruz, an international advocate for abuse victims, was abused as a teenager in his native Chile by a notorious paedophile, Father Fernando Karadima. "I am very grateful to Pope Francis for trusting me with this appointment... Francis later that year received Cruz and other victims of Karadima in the Vatican and demanded the resignation of all of Chile's bishops. The pope and Cruz, who now lives in the United States, have since had regular contacts to discuss sexual abuse in the Church.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 16:13 UTC
Global edible oil prices near their peak, but retreat may be slow
KUALA LUMPUR: Global edible oil prices are nearing their peak but may be slow to decline to previous levels due to low stocks, a slow recovery in output and higher global use in biofuel production, leading analysts said on Wednesday. World palm oil supply is expected to expand by 3 million tonnes in 2021 after suffering a decline of 2.5 million tonnes last year, Mistry added. The modest recovery in global palm oil supply will limit the price decline, said Thomas Mielke, head of Hamburg-based analyst firm Oil World. Palm oil, the world's cheapest and most widely used edible oil, is found in everything from biscuits to biofuel. Mielke pegged biodiesel production to rise by 2.2 million tonnes this year, with 17.9 million tonnes of palm oil likely to be used for biodiesel and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO).
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 15:00 UTC
Poland accuses Belarus of persecuting Polish nationals
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland accused Belarus on Wednesday of persecuting its Polish minority, calling on its government to stop "taking hostages", after Polish and Belarusian media said the head of a group representing the Polish diaspora had been arrested. Andzelika Borys, head of the Association of Poles in Belarus, was arrested in the city of Grodno on Tuesday and sentenced to 15 days in prison, Polish media said. Belarusian media said Borys was being held on charges of violating mass gathering rules, citing the interior ministry. The Association of Poles in Belarus said it feared further "repressions" of the diaspora but would continue its work. Poland expelled two Belarusian diplomats last week after a Polish diplomat was expelled this month.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 14:49 UTC
Jalil acquires 70 million BCorp shares days after named new CEO
KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corp Bhd group chief executive officer (CEO) Abdul Jalil Abdul Rasheed has acquired a stake in the company days after he was appointed to the post. BCorp, in a statement today, said Jalil had acquired 70 million shares at 28 sen each, which gave the former boss at Permodalan Nasional Bhd a 1.4% equity interest in the company. “I took on this Group CEO role to undertake a transformation of BCorp," Jalil said. BCorp, had earlier said that Jalil was brought in with a mandate to transform the sprawling business group into a high-performing organisation. "It is also a vote of confidence in the Company, and addresses the seriousness of this institutionalisation phase we are undertaking.” Jalil was appointed the new Group CEO of BCorp on March 16.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 11:37 UTC
'Once in a lifetime': Torch bearers look forward to relay start
IWAKI, Japan (Reuters) - Masao Hashimoto has dreamed of holding an Olympic torch since 1964, the first time Tokyo hosted the Olympics, when he ran behind the torch bearers. They will be runners on the first day of the Olympic Torch relay, postponed for a year along with the Summer Games - a delay unprecedented in Olympic history forced on organisers by the global pandemic. The four-month relay involves 10,000 runners and takes the torch across Japan's 47 prefectures. That's what I felt," Hashimoto told Reuters, describing his feelings when chosen more than a year ago to bear the torch in the city of Iwaki. "I have been hoping to do this as it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Arakawa told Reuters at her high school.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 11:03 UTC
Former hotel F&B director quit high-paying job to start own outlet, and business is flourishing
MELAKA: Following the Covid-19 pandemic, a hotel F&B director decided to give up his job and took up the challenge of opening his own restaurant at Tengkera here. "I knew many of the junior staff have families to support so I decided to quit and make way for them to stay on. Francis said he was confident of earning a living with his years of experience in the hotel industry. The 56-year-old started out as a waiter in the 1980s before working his way up to become F&B director. "With 34 years of F&B experience coupled with passion and networking, I knew my venture would work out fine, ” he said, beaming with pride.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 10:41 UTC
In Amazon union election, votes cast by some ineligible ex-employees could swing outcome
The NLRB requires that Amazon distribute a notice of election informing employees that they would become ineligible under those circumstances. Ballots from those former employees, if submitted, can be contested by Amazon, the union or the labor board when votes are counted, according to the notice of election. Reuters couldn't determine the total number of Amazon employees who received ballots in that ineligible category. He added: "We've heard from over 1,000 Amazon workers who want to know if their warehouse could be next" to attempt unionization. Morgan Lewis declined to comment about its work for Amazon and its public advice for employers facing potential union campaigns.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 09:45 UTC
Spas, reflexology centres, karaoke outlets in S'wak to reopen from Saturday (March 27) with strict SOPs
KUCHING: Spas, reflexology and foot massage centres and karaoke outlets in Sarawak will be allowed to reopen from Saturday (March 27), with strict adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs). The state disaster management committee said the decision for these outlets to reopen was a part of economic recovery efforts. In its Covid-19 update, the committee said Sarawak reported 141 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the state's tally to 14,655 cases. It said the index case of the Chupak cluster was a 27-year-old woman who tested positive on March 9. "The infection then spread to her family members and other individuals in Kampung Chupak," the committee said.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 09:33 UTC
Pekema and MyEVOC share thoughts on EV policy
Pekema has been importing and selling EVs over the last two years, despite the lack of specific incentives for these vehicles. Madani said Putrajaya planned to launch the specific policy on EVs in the first quarter of the year. All these investments are done without any support from the government, as there is no specific policy on EVs. Meanwhile, the Malaysian Electric Vehicle Owners Club (MyEVOC) says the government should be firm when it comes to promoting green technology, including EV, stressing that the EV policy should not be centred on industrial development, but rather on environmental protection. The policy on EV should reflect efforts made in attempting to achieve this goal, says its president Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 24, 2021 09:11 UTC
Facebook annual developers event adapts to ‘changed world’
SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook on March 23 said its once grand annual gathering of software developers will be a one-day, online event this June, potentially lacking an appearance by top executive Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook told AFP that it remained to be determined whether Zuckerberg would even take part in the event this year. “F8 has always brought together an incredible community of people who are building, innovating, and looking for what’s next,” Facebook apps vice president of platform partnerships Konstantinos Papamiltiadis said in a post. He described the change as recognition of businesses adapting to a pandemic changed world. The streamed event will feature technical sessions, demonstrations, and panels aimed at helping developers build products for Facebook’s “family” of apps, according to Papamiltiadis.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 09:02 UTC
Gym and nutritionists: inside South Korea’s T1 eSports empire
Explosive growth has turned competitive video gaming into an increasingly professional sport, with a youthful, ever-growing fan base that appeals to sponsors and advertisers. South Korea is a leading power in eSports and in a brand new, 10-storey building in Seoul’s expensive Gangnam district, dozens of T1’s professional and budding gamers train, following a routine similar to mainstream sports. It has proved a successful model: T1 are three-times League Of Legends world champions, and according to esportsearnings.com are the world number one for overall prize money, with around US$7.1mil (RM29.34mil). More than 100 million fans tuned into the 2019 League of Legends World Championships online. “eSports audiences average much younger than traditional sports, which tends to be an attractive segment,” Remer Rietkerk, Newzoo’s head of Esports, told AFP.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 08:04 UTC
Hong Kong pet owner arrested after picture of kitten wrapped in cling film goes viral
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of cruelty to animals after allegedly punishing a kitten by wrapping it in cling film. Police acted after a photograph of the six-week-old female Scottish Fold cat bound in transparent plastic went viral on social media on Tuesday. Inspector So Wing-shun said the kitten, which had been bought online, had no apparent injuries and would be taken care of by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The woman posted the picture of the cat on Tuesday morning, prompting the administrator to alert the media and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. – South China Morning Post
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 07:13 UTC
Najib seeks bank documents in defence against 1MDB trial
KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is seeking to compel the prosecution in the RM2.28bil 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial to disclose banking documents to companies which he claimed to be linked to former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz. The Pekan MP said the documents he sought were vital and relevant to his defence in the 1MDB trial. "Zeti is listed as a witness in the 1MDB trial. As such, the bank documents are very relevant to my defence and the cross-examination of Zeti and other prosecution witnesses pertaining to her credibility and her independence as the erstwhile Bank Negara governor is relevant to the period in relation to my charges," he said. Najib also said the suppression of the bank documents would misrepresent the truth and a breach to his fundamental liberties, his right to fair trial and right to be equal before the law as provided under the Federal Constitution.
Source:The Star
March 24, 2021 06:45 UTC