9 dead in Negros ambush

Photo released by the Philippine National Police shows casualties from an attack by suspected communist rebels in La Castellana, Negros Occidental yesterday.

BACOLOD City, Philippines  – Nine people, including a policeman and three barangay officials, were killed while nine others were wounded in an ambush by suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas yesterday morning in La Castellana, Negros Occidental.

The fatalities were identified as Police Officer 1 Richard Canja of the La Castellana police station; barangay councilmen Lito Lucban, Teotimo Espleguera and Mario Ricablanca; Ulysses Camayor, Jonathan Mateo and Ramil Trompeta who were members of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT) assigned in the Barangay Cabacungan police outpost; driver Ricky Dingcong, and civilian Virginia Ordoñez.

The wounded were PO2 Jeffrey Alvarez and PO3 Constantino Villegas, Roger Behar, Jerry Lacuedo, Jamil Roma, Jason Oximar, Bonifacio Bayate, Cristituto Perolino, and Victoriano Donasco.

Investigators said the victims were on board a Fuzo Canter truck, driven by Dingcong, when the suspects ambushed the victims at around 3:45 a.m. in Barangay Puso, La Castellana.

Police said the victims were on their way home to La Castellana town proper after securing the fiesta celebration in Barangay Puso.

La Castellana police chief Senior Inspector Gary Alan Resuma said the three policemen and the BPAT members were assigned to help secure the fiesta celebration.

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Resuma said BPAT member Edwin Sevilla, who survived the ambush, noted that the armed suspects - positioned at the sugarcane field along the road - fired at their vehicle and later shouted, “Mabuhay ang NPA” before they fled.

The suspects also took two M16 rifles from the policemen before they escaped, Resuma said.

Senior Superintendent Celestino Guara, acting director of the Negros Occidental police, said the ambush was allegedly staged by at least 30 suspected NPA members.

La Castellana Mayor Alberto Nicor who inspected the ambush site condemned the attack as an “inhuman act” perpetrated by the suspects, who reportedly shot the victims in the head.

Empty shells of AK 50 and M16 assault rifles, and .45 caliber pistol were recovered from the area.

Resuma and Col. Oscar Lactao, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said they could not confirm yet the involvement of the NPA in the ambush.

Troopers of the 1st Scout Ranger and 11th Infantry Battalions, 6th Regional Public Safety Management and 5th Maneuver Platoon of the Negros Occidental Public Safety Company have launched manhunt operations against the suspects, Lactao said.

Road checkpoints were immediately set up and government troops launched a manhunt for the attackers, who fled toward a forest in Negros Occidental, a poor, sugar-producing province about 470 kilometers (280 miles) southeast of Manila.

Lactao said the attackers might have been members of an illegal logging group. Suspected illegal loggers killed a forest ranger in the area last year.

The killings are the latest in a flurry of gun violence that has revived calls for tighter gun controls. The country has long grappled with communist and Muslim insurgencies, crime, and armed groups controlled by politicians, warlords and powerful families.

Police estimate there are more than half a million unlicensed firearms in the country, down from more than a million a few years ago.

Sunday’s attack occurred despite a national 150-day ban on the carrying of firearms outside residences imposed by election officials to prevent violence ahead of congressional and local elections on May 13.

Meanwhile, a militiaman was wounded last Saturday after NPA rebels attacked a military outpost in Barangay Sta. Juana in Tagbina, Surigao del Sur.

1Lt. Jolito Borces, spokesman for the Army’s 75th battalion, said the NPA attacked the detachment but the militiamen repelled the attack and forced the guerrillas to withdraw.

Borces said some rebels were wounded during the firefight but he could not provide details.

Army troops discovered last Saturday an abandoned NPA camp in Barangay Mckinley in Catarman, Northern Samar.

Lt. Col. Noel Vestuir, chief of the Army’s 20th battalion, said the camp has 15 bunkers that could accommodate 15 to 20 people, a kitchen and a toilet.

“The government troops have dislodged them from their guerrilla camps and cut off their supply support lines that they forcibly take from the residents in the area,” Vestuir said.

Welcome to Flash Gordon, a village in Malaysia

Flash Gordon is not just a heroic character in comic books and movies, but also the name of a small village in Penampang, Sabah, where a large family resides.

Was the village named after the sci-fi hero or is there a more interesting tale to the origins of its unique name? Avila Geraldine finds out AT a junction just a 10-minute drive from Donggongon town in Penampang, Sabah, there's a signboard, almost unnoticeable, that leads to a quiet residential area.

It's like many other residential areas populated by large families in Sabah, but this one stands out because of its unique, some may say bizarre name.

After all, how many residential areas do you know carry the name of the well-known science-fiction hero, Flash Gordon?

But that's exactly what this small village in Kampung Kivatu is called -- Taman Flash Gordon. For anyone who is familiar with American comics, Flash Gordon was the hero in an adventure comic strip published in 1934 in the United States. In later years, the adventures of the space hero were adapted into films and a TV series.

Well known among the Penampang folk, the area has been in existence since the 1950s.

Its name never fails to arouse the curiosity of outsiders who come into the district and stumble upon the broken signboard beside an old Shell station along Jalan Penampang-Tambunan with the curious name of "Flash Gordon" on it.

"Oh, it's named after the comic book hero Flash Gordon," is the first thing that crosses people's minds when they see the signboard, and the second inevitable question will be: "How in the world did that name come about?"

It all started 50 years ago with a young Kadazan lad named Linus Tokuyuk, the village athlete and strongman.

He can be solely credited for lending "his" name to the residential area.

His son Lucian, who is in his 60s, sits down patiently to tell a story he has repeated many times.

"The first Flash Gordon movie hit the district in the 1950s. At that time, my father was already married to my mum (Josephine Poon Kandavu) and the movie was screened at an open space near Sekolah Menengah St Michael.

"I think almost everyone went to watch it. The movie was so popular that all the men who watched it wanted to be like Flash Gordon."

One day, the men held a competition among themselves. Whoever could jump from one betel nut tree to another would be crowned the district's "Flash Gordon". The race was apparently inspired by one of the movie's scenes.

Tokuyuk, who was in his 30s then, was literally bursting with enthusiasm and eager to show off his prowess. He tied a piece of cloth around his head and psyched himself up. Becoming "Flash Gordon" would definitely be a proud achievement for him.

"My father was certain he could do it and even said 'I am the real Flash Gordon'.

"He got ready and made the leap. He must have jumped six feet or more. He did it and we were all elated.

"Since then, everyone nicknamed him Flash Gordon and the name was emblazoned everywhere. No one called him by his real name any more after that."

Not only that, his sons later inherited the name. Their friends called them Flash Gordon, too.

Lucian, who is the third child among seven siblings, said his father was like Flash Gordon in character, too -- he was tough but jovial, friendly and loveable. He was a good father to his children, and a good husband to his wife.

Tokuyuk, a carpenter who built his own house and was also a farmer, never heard the end of his amazing feat.

When Tokuyuk was in the company of friends, they would talk and banter about the day he leapt from one tree to another, and also his nickname.

Lucian, a retiree, said the family managed a small resort which carried his mother's family name, Tamanza, about 10km away.

"Sometime before his death, my father asked us why there's a place named after his wife and not after him. So, we decided and told him okay, we will name the area where we lived, Taman Flash Gordon, as a tribute to him."

Tokuyuk died on Sept 24, 1999, and his wife on Dec 13, 2008.

Taman Flash Gordon is now occupied by Tokuyuk's children.

There are five family homes in the area, including Tokuyuk's old wooden house, with a kindergarten close to the junction and main road.

A new signboard will soon be set up to replace the broken one. When it is completed, the name will once again attract passers-by and the story of Penampang's own Flash Gordon will continue to be told.

Japan to launch 4K TV broadcasts in July 2014

During CES week, European television network Eutelsat launched the first-ever 4K TV channel, and while it’s only for experimental and demonstration purposes, it’ll set the tone for the future of television broadcasting. Case in point: Japan is planning on launching 4K TV broadcasts in July 2014, which is two years ahead of schedule.

According to a report from the Asahi Shimbun, the 4K transmissions will first begin using communication satellite channels before moving to broadcast satellites, with digital broadcasting arriving at a later date. Not a lot of details are available at this point, but it should only be a matter of time before we hear more about 4K TV broadcasting.

However, the report notes that the 4K broadcast is set to be up and running by the time the final match of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil kicks off, which will no doubt excite avid soccer fans in Japan. Plus, since 4K broadcasts are two years ahead of schedule, they’re also moving up 8K broadcasts as well, which should be launching in 2016.

The biggest story of CES 2013 was the rise of 4K televisions. It’s certainly not the first time we’ve heard about them this year, but companies like Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, and LG are just now putting their respective models up for sale, but of course, it’ll cost you a pretty penny to afford one of these new panels.

Lenovo plans to buy BlackBerry-maker RIM

The company may consider RIM as a takeover target, sending RIM's shares up 2 pc just a week before it launches a make-or-break line of redesigned smartphones.

Toronto: A senior Lenovo executive said that the Chinese computer maker may consider Research in Motion as a takeover target, sending the Blackberry maker's shares up 2 per cent just a week before it launches a make-or-break line of redesigned smartphones.

But Levovo, which vaulted into the personal computer market with its 2005 purchase of IBM's PC division, would face formidable hurdles if it tried to buy a company that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper once described as a national "crown jewel." The Chinese company would also encounter tough regulatory scrutiny in Washington, cybersecurity experts say.

Lenovo, on track to become the world's largest PC maker, has held talks with RIM and its bankers about various combinations or strategic ventures, its chief financial officer, Wong Wai Ming, said on Thursday.

"We are looking at all opportunities - RIM and many others," Wong told Bloomberg in an interview at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. "We'll have no hesitation if the right opportunity comes along."

A spokesman for Lenovo said Wong was asked about RIM by the Bloomberg journalist and that Wong was speaking broadly about Lenovo's M&A strategy.

Crucial juncture

RIM, once a pioneer in the smartphone industry, has struggled in recent years as its aging line-up of devices have ceded market share to Apple Inc's iPhone and devices based on Google Inc's Android operating system.

RIM hopes its new touch-screen and keyboard devices, powered by its new BlackBerry 10 operating system, will help it claw back some of the lost ground. Optimism surrounding the launch has powered the stock higher in recent weeks.

Last May the Waterloo, Ontario-based company announced a far-reaching strategic review under which it was expected to examine all options, from software licensing deals to an outright sale of the company.

Earlier this week, RIM shares surged to a 13-month high after Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said RIM might consider strategic alliances with other companies after next week's BlackBerry 10 launch.

In an interview with a German newspaper on Monday, Heins said RIM's ongoing strategic review could lead to the sale of its handset business or the licensing of its software to rival smartphone companies.

Even so, analysts expressed skepticism about a Lenovo bid.

"Anybody who's serious about buying a company doesn't go talking it up... It sounds to me like a comment made more for publicity's sake than a serious approach for RIM," said Charter Equity analyst Ed Snyder. "It is a very long shot at the best.'

Net benefit test

Any bid for RIM would face a rigorous review by the Ottawa to determine whether the deal would bring a "net benefit" to Canada. The Investment Canada Act gives the government the authority to kill deals that could harm Canadian interests or threaten the country's national security.

In response to the comments by Heins, Canada's Industry Minister Christian Paradis told Reuters earlier this week that Canada may even go to the extent of reviewing a sale of RIM's handset business if such a deal was proposed.

"Research in Motion has made an important contribution to information and communications technology in Canada, a sector that is so important to the Canadian economy. We hope they continue to do so well into the future," Paradis said in an emailed response to the Lenovo comments on Thursday.

Lenovo's acquisition trail over the past few years, such as the purchase of Germany's Medion in 2011 and IBM's PC business in 2005, has sparked market talk that it could be interested in handset makers such as RIM and Nokia Oyj.

Lenovo executives have denied on separate occasions last year that there were such plans.

Cybersecurity experts said Lenovo would likely go up against tough US government scrutiny as well since the Defense Department and other agencies rely on the Blackberry, which is considered more secure than other smartphones.

Should Lenovo acquire RIM, it could lose a major client - the US government - as US officials would be reluctant to use products owned by a Chinese company due to national security concerns, analysts say.

"A potential acquisition of RIM by Lenovo would raise a number of important security issues," said Michael Wessel, a Commissioner on the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, appointed by Congress.

"Government employees are one of the largest users of RIM's BlackBerry products and the security of their communications has to be of paramount concern," said Wessel, adding that he was speaking on behalf of himself and not the Commission.

After the comments from Lenovo, a RIM spokesman said the company had nothing new to report on its strategic review.

RIM shares closed 2.2 per cent higher at $17.74 on Thursday the Nasdaq. The Toronto-listed shares closed 2.9 per cent higher at C$17.80. RIM is a volatile stock, and moves of 3 percent and more are not uncommon.

Its shares are down almost 90 per cent from an all-time high of over $148 in 2008, but the stock has rallied in the last four months as the launch of the BlackBerry 10 devices nears. The company's shares have nearly tripled in value since dipping as low as $6.22 in late September.

Lenovo's shares fell 2.73 per cent in Hong Kong during Friday trade, after closing 6.6 per cent higher in the previous session.

Thai tycoon ups bid for Singapore's F&N

SINGAPORE — A Thai billionaire early Saturday raised his bid for Singapore's Fraser and Neave (F&N), topping an offer by an Indonesian rival ahead of a planned auction of the conglomerate next week.

In a press release issued at midnight, TCC Assets -- controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi -- said it was increasing its offer for F&N shares it does not own from Sg$8.88 ($7.24) a share to Sg$9.55.

TCC's latest Sg$13.75 billion offer trumped the Sg$13.1 billion, or Sg$9.08 per share, bid tabled by property firm Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) in mid-November.

However, TCC's new offer is lower than F&N's closing price of Sg$9.58 per share on Friday.

OUE is controlled by Indonesia's Lippo Group, whose founder is Indonesian tycoon Mochtar Riady. His son Stephen is OUE's executive chairman.

F&N became a takeover target in September after selling off its most prized asset, Tiger Beer maker Asia Pacific Breweries, to Dutch brewer Heineken.

A takeover contest between the Thai and Indonesian tycoons has dragged on since then, with both parties seeking several extensions of deadlines to submit their final offers.

The impasse prompted stock market watchdog Securities Industry Council (SIC) to call for an auction, saying that investors needed certainty with regards to the competing offers.

TCC's higher offer is unlikely to derail the auction scheduled to commence on Monday unless one party withdraws its bid. Both parties will still be able to table fresh bids, with OUE under pressure to top TCC's new offer.

Under the auction rules set by SIC, a daily bidding process will take place from Monday until one party gives up.

F&N shareholders had reacted coolly to the original bids, hoping for the offers to be increased.

Japan keen to attract Malaysian tourists

KUALA LUMPUR: The Japanese tourism industry is keen to attract Muslim tourists and Malaysia is one of the countries with the largest potential, said Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Shigeru Nakamura.

He said Japan had seen a steady growth of visitor arrivals from Malaysia, especially following the implementation in September last year of the multiple entry visa for Malaysians travelling to Japan.  

 

"From January to November last year, Malaysian arrivals in Japan totalled about 113,100, an increase of 16.5 per cent from the corresponding period in the previous year.  

 

"Promotion of tourism between Japan and Malaysia will contribute and enhance people-to-people relations," he told Bernama.  

 

Nakamura said the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) will be hosting a technical visit to Japan from Jan 29 to Feb 3. 

 

He said that in conjunction with the visit, the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) would sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Matta in Yokohama on Jan 30.  

 

The MoU is to promote cooperation and exchange of ideas on inbound tourism between Malaysia and Japan.  

 

"I hope this MoU will provide additional momentum to the Malaysia and Japan tourism collaboration to further promote the Japanese tourism industry," said Nakamura. -- BERNAMA

Waterbeds: First underwater hotel to be created in Dubai

Dubai boasts the world's tallest building and world's largest mall. The new challenge is to create the world's largest underwater hotel, The Water Discus.

The hotel will boast 21 excusive suites designed by Polish company Deep Ocean Technology and Swiss BIG InvestConsult AG. It’s expected to comprise two discs, one under the water and the other above.

"The Water Discus Hotel project opens many new fields of development for the hotel and tourism sector, housing and city sector in the coastal off-shore areas, as well as new opportunities for ecology support by creation of new underwater ecosystems and activities on underwater world protection," President of BIG Bogdan Gutkowski told World Architecture News.

"Additionally we would like to create here in the UAE the International Environmental Program and Center of the Underwater World Protection – with Water Discus Hotel as a laboratory tool for ocean and sea environment protection and research," he added.

The ambitious project isn’t the first attempt to create an underwater hotel. The Maldives’ Rangali Islands resort has one underwater suite; the one-room Utter Inn can be found on Lake Mälaren, in Sweden; and the three-room Jules’ Undersea Lodge is said to be the only underwater hotel in America.