US puts Singapore on human trafficking watch list - Yahoo

WASHINGTON (AFP) - – The United States has put allies Singapore and Thailand as well as Vietnam on a human trafficking watch list, accusing them of failing to prevent women from being forced into prostitution.

The move Monday opens the way for the United States to cut off some civilian assistance, although it usually functions as a way to pressure countries to take action.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has made women's and children's rights a signature issue, called human trafficking a "terrible crime" as she presented the State Department's annual report.

"All of us have a responsibility to bring this practice to an end," she said.

The report estimated that 12.3 million people were the victims of trafficking in 2009-2010, although it said there has been progress over the past decade.

The State Department added a number of Asian nations to its watch list -- Afghanistan, Brunei, Laos, Maldives, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Bangladesh, China, India, Micronesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka stayed on the list, unchanged from a year earlier.

North Korea, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea remained at the bottom level of countries that do not even meet the minimum standards on human trafficking.

Explaining the downgrade for Singapore, the report said that some women from China, the Philippines and Thailand are tricked into coming to the city-state with promises of legitimate employment and coerced into the sex trade.

The report said that while Singapore launched "some significant new steps" against trafficking, there were no "quantifiable indicators" that the government was identifying more victims or prosecuting more culprits.

The State Department said that Thailand was a source, destination and transit point for trafficking, with ethnic minorities and citizens of neighboring countries at particular risk of sexual abuse or forced labor.

Senator Jim Webb, who heads the Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, had made an unusually open appeal not to place Thailand on the watch list.

Webb visited Bangkok this month and said US embassy staff disagreed with the intended downgrade as it could curb assistance for democracy and human rights programs in the wake of the kingdom's political violence.

The downgrade occurs "at a time when this type of aide is desperately needed to bolster political reforms in Thailand and to promote political stability," Webb said last week in a letter to Clinton.

The State Department recognized improvements in Pakistan, which was taken off the watch list, and Malaysia, which was on the watch list but lifted from the lowest category.

Pakistan "has dramatically increased the number of convictions and prosecutions for human trafficking, undertaking creative efforts to prevent bonded labor," Luis CdeBaca, the US envoy on human trafficking, told reporters.

Malaysian authorities "have acknowledged and begun to tackle their serious human trafficking problem, including intensified engagement with foreign governments," CdeBaca said.

From other regions, Cuba, Iran and Saudi Arabia remained in the rock-bottom category and the Dominican Republic was newly added.

Representative Christopher Smith, a Republican who authored the law that requires the human trafficking report, said that more countries should have been assigned the lowest rank.

"If we are willing to hold the Dominican Republic to account, as we should, it's outrageous that China, Vietnam and India get a free pass," Smith said.

Taiwan was upgraded and listed as fully compliant in efforts against human trafficking after starting new services for victims, CdeBaca said.

Australia, New Zealand and South Korea were also listed as fully compliant.

For the first time, the United States included itself in the report. It ranked itself in compliance.

Japan was listed as not fully compliant but making efforts. The United States put its close ally on the watch list in 2004 and 2005, embarrassing Tokyo into stepping up efforts to protect trafficked women.

Yahoo

JK Senat AS gesa kes Anwar dibicara secara adil - Malaysiakini

Jawatankuasa hubungan luar senat Amerika Syarikat menggesa kerajaan Malaysia, khususnya Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, supaya memastikan perbicaraan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, yang menghadapi tuduhan liwat, berjalan secara adil.

“Sudah lebih satu dekad sejak perbicaraan Anwar yang pertama, atas tuduhan yang kemudiannya dibatalkan oleh Mahkamah Persekutuan,” kata pengerusinya John Kerry.

“Tuduhan kali ini sama dengan tuduhan sebelum ini, dan Anwar didakwa selepas terpilih sebagai ahli parlimen dan ketua pembangkang di Parlimen,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan.

Sehubungan itu, Kerry menggesa kerajaan Malaysia supaya memberi perlindungan perundangan yang sewajarnya, sejajar dengan kedudukan Anwar sebagai seorang ahli parlimen dan seorang warganegara.

“Dan bagi menyelesaikan kes terhadapnya secara yang memberi keyakinan terhadap kredibiliti dan keadilan dalam sistem kehakiman Malaysia,” katanya.

Anwar, 63, dituduh meliwat bekas pembantunya, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan 24, di Unit 11-5-1, Kondominium Desa Damansara, Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara, di antara pukul 3.01 petang dan 4.30 petang 26 Jun 2008.

Ketua umum PKR dan ahli parlimen Permatang Pauh itu, dituduh mengikut Seksyen 377B Kanun Keseksaan dan boleh dihukum penjara sehingga 20 tahun dan disebat jika disabit kesalahan.

Malaysiakini

'House' actor Kal Penn joins White House team - Yahoo

WASHINGTON - The White House has hired actor Kal Penn as a liaison between President Barack Obama's administration and Asian constituents. White House spokesman Shin Inouye said Tuesday that the actor who had a recurring role on Fox's TV show "House" and has starred in several movies would join the staff as an associate director in the Office of Public Liaison.

His role will be to connect Obama with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as arts groups.

Penn starred as Kumar in the movie, "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay." His "House" character committed suicide in Monday's episode.

Penn backed Obama during the campaign. The White House says a start date for Penn hasn't been set.

The White House did not reveal what Penn would be paid. Aides with similar titles earned between $41,000 and $91,000 last year.

The hire was first reported by Entertainment Weekly.

Yahoo

'I screwed up,' Obama admits after Daschle withdrawal

An embarrassed President Barack Obama admitted Tuesday "I screwed up" after his political soul mate and pick to lead health reform Tom Daschle withdrew in a storm over personal tax issues.

On Obama's worst day in the White House so far, he also lost another nominee -- Nancy Killefer, who he had named as government budget watchdog, and termed one of his most "important" appointments -- also over tax issues.

The twin bombshells overshadowed Obama's bid to showcase his economic stimulus plan in a flurry of television interviews and reflected the potential traps he has set for himself by promising a new era of ethical government.

"I don't want to send a message to the American people that there are two sets of standards, one for powerful people, and one for ordinary folks who are working every day and paying their taxes," Obama said in an interview with CNN.

"I think this was a mistake. I think I screwed up. And, you know, I take responsibility for it and we're going to make sure we fix it so it doesn't happen again," he said.

Obama had hoped to pile pressure on senators debating his massive stimulus plan, but the distractions scuppered the media offensive as he was forced to face down ethics questions instead.

Earlier, Obama said he accepted the decision by Daschle, one of his earliest supporters, with regret after the former senate majority leader decided he could not escape a row over his payment of 128,000 dollars in back taxes plus some 12,000 dollars in interest.

Daschle said did not want to be a distraction for Obama's ambitious plans to reform healthcare.

"Lives and livelihoods are at stake," he said in a White House statement, even as many of his former Senate colleagues said the row may have blown over and he would likely have been confirmed.

The White House denied that it had any role in the decision, or that he was pushed to decline the post of secretary of health and human services and White House health czar.

"The decision was made by senator Daschle," said spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Daschle's demise came hours after Obama's nominee for White House budget czar Killefer withdrew her nomination, reportedly over her failure to pay past unemployment taxes for household help.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner had earlier survived a controversy over his own unpaid taxes though his confirmation was delayed. He was eventually sworn in last week.

Obama tried to keep the focus on the economy as he named Republican Senator Judd Gregg as his commerce secretary.

"Our economy is shrinking, unemployment rolls are growing, businesses and families can't get credit, and small businesses can't secure the loans they need to create jobs and get their products to market," Obama said.

"With the stakes this high, we cannot afford to get trapped in the same old partisan gridlock."

The Senate meanwhile took up debate in earnest on the stimulus bill, with Democratic leaders promising to give Republican amendments a full airing.

Republicans complain they were shut out in the House of Representatives, and did not offer Obama a single vote when the package was passed last week.

Obama's political strategist David Axelrod was on Capitol Hill Tuesday to lobby senators, and raised the prospect of small changes to the bill.

"We want as many votes for this package as we can possibly get -- Republican, Democrat, but the key obviously is to pass it," he said.

"I think he's very pleased with the direction in which we're moving. Obviously there are going to be nips and tucks along the way."

But Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell dug in for much bigger changes to the legislation.

"Everybody agrees that there ought to be a stimulus package, the question is, how big and what do we spend it on?" he said.

"The House bill is an embarrassment, the Senate bill on the floor is not markedly better, our goal will be to pare it down and to target it right at the problem."

The maneuverings on the stimulus bill are consuming the Obama administration so the focus on difficult confirmation fights are an unwelcome distraction.

Other Obama nominees like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Eric Holder have sailed through confirmation votes despite early ethics questions.

Sumber: MSN

Boikot barangan Amerika,Israel besar-besaran

KUALA LUMPUR, 7 Jan (Hrkh) - Sebagai tanda bantahan dan kecaman terhadap Israel, Lajnah Dakwah dan Pembela Islam, Dewan Pemuda PAS Pusat akan melancarkan kempen boikot produk Amerika dan jaringan Israel secara besar-besaran.

Menurut pengerusi lajnah tersebut, Ustaz Riduan Mohd Nor, kempen tersebut akan dilancarkan pada 9 Januari ini di setiap peringkat Dewan Pemuda PAS negeri.

Katanya, sepanjang kempen tersebut, poster serta risalah akan diedarkan sepanjang kempen tersebut bagi mengajak masyarakat khusunya umat Islam bagi memboikot produk jaringan Israel.

Jelas Riduan, antara produk jaringan Israel yang perlu di pulaukan oleh umat masyarakat ialah barangan keluaran Mark and Spencer, Loreal, pasar raya Tesco, restoran makanan segera McDonalds dan KFC dan Nestle.

"Pemuda Pusat menyahut seruan gerakan Islam sedunia untuk memboikot produk-produk ini. Setiap sen yang kita belanjakan, seolah-olah untuk membunuh saudara kita di Palestin. Sepanjang kempen tersebut, kita akan memupuk kesadaran kepada umat Islam akan betapa pentingnya kita memboikot daripada membeli barangan tersebut.

"Boikot ini pernah dilaksanakan pada zaman Rasulullah terhadap orang Yahudi. Sebagai contoh Telaga Ruumah (Bir Ruumah) yang dimiliki oleh Yahudi, telah diboikot oleh umat Islam di Madinah. Begitu juga dengan pasar-pasar Yahudi yang diboikot di Madinah. Ini kerana berlaku penipuan yang dilakukan terhadap orang Islam,"katanya sewaktu dihubungi Harakahdaily.

Dalam pada itu katanya, Lajnah Dakwah dan Pembela Islam turut mengecam sikap kerajaan Mesir yang telah mengkhianati orang Islam di Palestin sejak sekian lama dan antara punca serangan disebabkan mendapat sokongan daripada Mesir.

Jelas Riduan lagi, berdasarkan pengalamannya yang berada di United Kingdom beberapa hari yang lalu, demonstrasi bantahan dijalankan setiap hari serta kempen boikot produk Israel dan Amerika diadakan secara besar-besaran bagi membela nasib umat di Palestin. - mks._

Sumber: HarakahDaily

Obama triumphs, will be first black US president

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama was elected the nation's first black president Tuesday night in a historic triumph that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself.

The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his victory by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states — Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Iowa.

A huge crowd in Grant Park in Chicago erupted in jubilation at the news of Obama's victory. Some wept.

McCain called his former rival to concede defeat — and the end of his own 10-year quest for the White House. "The American people have spoken, and spoken clearly," McCain told disappointed supporters in Arizona.

Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, will take their oaths of office as president and vice president on Jan. 20, 2009.

As the 44th president, Obama will move into the Oval Office as leader of a country that is almost certainly in recession, and fighting two long wars, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan.

The popular vote was close, but not the count in the Electoral College, where it mattered most.

There, Obama's audacious decision to contest McCain in states that hadn't gone Democratic in years paid rich dividends.

Obama has said his first order of presidential business will be to tackle the economy. He has also pledged to withdraw most U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months.

Fellow Democrats rode his coattails to larger majorities in both houses of Congress. They defeated incumbent Republicans and won open seats by turn.

The 47-year-old Illinois senator was little known just four years ago. A widely praised speech at the Democratic National Convention, delivered when he was merely a candidate for the Senate, changed that.

Overnight he became a sought-after surrogate campaigner, and he had scarcely settled into his Senate seat when he began preparing for his run for the White House.

A survey of voters leaving polling places on Tuesday showed the economy was by far the top Election Day issue. Six in 10 voters said so, and none of the other top issues — energy, Iraq, terrorism and health care — was picked by more than one in 10.

"May God bless whoever wins tonight," President Bush told dinner guests at the White House, where his tenure runs out on Jan. 20.

The Democratic leaders of Congress celebrated in Washington.

"It is not a mandate for a party or ideology but a mandate for change," said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Said Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California: "Tonight the American people have called for a new direction. They have called for change in America."

Shortly after 11 p.m. in the East, The Associated Press count showed Obama with 338 electoral vote, well over the 270 needed for victory. McCain had 127 after winning states that comprised the normal Republican base.

The nationwide popular vote was remarkably close. Totals from 58 percent of the nation's precincts showed Obama with 51 percent and McCain with 47.9.

Interviews with voters suggested that almost six in 10 women were backing Obama nationwide, while men leaned his way by a narrow margin. Just over half of whites supported McCain, giving him a slim advantage in a group that Bush carried overwhelmingly in 2004.

The results of the AP survey were based on a preliminary partial sample of nearly 10,000 voters in Election Day polls and in telephone interviews over the past week for early voters.

Democrats also acclaimed Senate successes by former Gov. Mark Warner in Virginia, Rep. Tom Udall in New Mexico and Rep. Mark Udall in Colorado. All won seats left open by Republican retirements.

In New Hampshire, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen defeated Republican Sen. John Sununu in a rematch of their 2002 race, and Sen. Elizabeth Dole fell to Democrat Kay Hagan in North Carolina.

Democrats also looked for gains in the House. They found their first in Florida, defeating Rep. Tom Feeney, and another in Connecticut, where 22-year veteran Chris Shays was swept away by the Democratic tide.

The resurgent Democrats also elected a governor in one of the nation's traditional bellwether states when Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon won his race.

Sumber: Yahoo News

Obama Presiden baru, cipta sejarah

[DIKEMAS KINI, 12.15 tengah hari] WASHINGTON: Sah! Dalam tempoh lima jam pertama selepas pengundian ditutup - Senator Barack Obama diumum telah memenangi pemilihan bersejarah Amerika Syarikat - pemimpin pertama daripada kalangan masyarakat kulit hitam mengetuai White House.

Beliau memperoleh 297 undi pemilih berbanding pencabarnya Senator John McCain yang mendapat 145 undi sehingga pukul 12 tengah hari (waktu Malaysia).

Dengan kemenangan di Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia dan beberap negeri lain, Obama merekodkan prestasi 'menarik' untuk mengatasi McCain.

Obama, anak kepada pasangan warga Kenya dan ibunya dari Kansas, mendapat perhatian banyak pihak sejak tahun 2004. Pada tahun itu beliau bertanding kerusi Senat.

Selain laluan cerah bagi Obama, parti yang beliau wakili - Demokrat juga memperlihatkan prestasi baik dengan mampu menguasai majoriti di Dewan Perwakilan dan Dewan Senat - sekali gus mengawal Kongres buat kali pertama sejak 1994.

Bagi pilihan raya anggota Senat, parti Demokrat, yang Obama wakili, juga mencatatkan kejayaan memberangsangkan dengan memperoleh kerusi ketiga daripada penguasaan Republikan, menjadikan majoriti parti itu meningkat kepada 52 daripada 100 kerusi yang diperuntukkan.

Hanya beberapa kerusi dipertandingkan dalam pilihan raya Dewan Senat kali ini.

Di peringkat awal, bagi tempoh kurang sejam selepas pusat pengundian awal ditutup, McCain berada di depan lebih kelebihan lebih 10 undi pemilih.

Obama juga menang besar di Pennsylvania - salah satu daripada tiga negeri kritikal yang menjanjikan undi pemilih terbanyak.

Kemenangan mutlak di Pennsylvania meletakkan Obama di kedudukan kukuh untuk menuju ke White House.

Beliau juga dikatakan memperoleh sokongan besar etnik kulit hitam, kaum wanita dan masyarakat Hispanik.

McCain terus menerima sokongan penduduk kulit putih dan golongan warga kanan.

Sumber: mSTAR

Keputusan awal pemilihan Presiden: Obama 207, McCain 135

[DIKEMAS KINI, 11.15 pagi] WASHINGTON: Dalam tempoh kurang empat jam pertama selepas keputusan awal pemilihan Presiden Amerika Syarikat (AS) mula diketahui, yang muncul secara berperingkat, Senator Barack Obama semakin kukuh untuk menjejaki White House.

Sehingga pukul 10.30 pagi ini (waktu Malaysia) Obama dipercayai telah memperoleh hampir 207 undi pemilih berbanding dengan McCain 135.

McCain yang berusia 72 tahun terus mengejar Obama untuk merapatkan perbezaan undi diperoleh.

Obama memerlukan kurang 70 undi untuk diumumkan sebagai Presiden AS yang ke-44 - sekali gus mencatatkan sejarah baru - pemimpin pertama daripada kalangan masyarakat kulit hitam memenangi jawatan itu.

Di peringkat awal, bagi tempoh kurang sejam selepas pusat pengundian awal ditutup, McCain berada di depan lebih kelebihan lebih 10 undi pemilih.

Obama juga menang besar di Pennsylvania - salah satu daripada tiga negeri kritikal yang menjanjikan undi pemilih terbanyak.

Kemenangan mutlak di Pennsylvania meletakkan Obama di kedudukan kukuh untuk menuju ke White House.

Beliau juga dikatakan memperoleh sokongan besar etnik kulit hitam, kaum wanita dan masyarakat Hispanik.

McCain terus menerima sokongan penduduk kulit putih dan golongan warga kanan.

Setakat ini Obama telah menang di negeri iaitu New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Illinois serta District of Columbia.

McCain menang di lapan negeri - Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee dan West Virginia - kebanyakannya kubu kuat Republikan.

Bagi pilihan raya anggota Senat, parti Demokrat, yang Obama wakili, juga mencatatkan kejayaan memberangsangkan dengan memperoleh kerusi ketiga daripada penguasaan Republikan, menjadikan majoriti parti itu meningkat kepada 52 daripada 100 kerusi yang diperuntukkan.

Hanya beberapa kerusi dipertandingkan dalam pilihan raya Dewan Senat kali ini.

Sumber: mSTAR