Jorge Mario Bergoglio becomes Pope Francis I

White smoke from Sistine Chapel heralds shock decision
to elect first Latin American, first Jesuit and first
Francis to lead world's Catholics

At 7.06pm, a rain-swept but packed St Peter’s Square erupted with a mix of joy and not a little shock as clouds of white smoke told the crowds – and the rest of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics – that a new pontiff had been chosen on just the second day of voting.

But the noise that greeted the billowing smoke was nothing compared to the sound that met Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires when he appeared on the balcony as the 266th successor of St Peter.

By 8.10pm local time when the newly elected Pope Francis I emerged in white papal robes to cheers of “Viva il Papa” (“Long live the Pope”), the crowds stretched back from the vast Piazza way to the end of Via della Conciliazione, the 500-metre long road connecting the Vatican to the Tiber.

Najib’s ‘C’ word designed to insult Indians, Others,

By Joe Fernandez
The various “initiatives” for the Indian Nation in Malaysia announced by Prime Minister Najib Mohd Razak was, according to him, designed to make the community “competitive”.

He wants Indians to place their continued Nambikkei (Trust in Tamil) in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) so that it can carry out even more “initiatives” that will benefit the community.

BN the underdog? But is the maths correct?

There are so many discrepancies about the
outcome of the 13th general election.

By Syed Nadzri Syed Harun
Either some people got their maths screwed up regarding the coming general election or they are just out to pull our legs. Just look at the discrepancies below.

Dossier 1: Anwar Ibrahim, says Pakatan Rakyat which he leads, will win the election, beating the ruling Barisan Nasional by at least 10 parliamentary seats.

Dossier 2: Leading think-tank The Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) says BN is expected to win 123 to 135 of the 222 parliamentary seats but could reach as high as 150 if Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak could attract Indian and undecided Chinese voters as well.

Legal Sophistry to Support Argument That Sabah is Part of Malaysia

In 1963, Sabah was bundled with Sarawak into a strategic arrangement between Britain and Malaya to consolidate Britain's colonial territories and economic interests and replace British colonial rule in this region with Malayan rule in the newly created Malaysia.

When the Malaysia proposal was announced in 1961 by Tunku Abdul Rahman, this immediately touched off local and regional controversy and opposition to "Malaysia" as a neo-colonial scheme to prolong colonial rule- especially by Indonesia and the Philippines. This led to Indonesia's Konfrontasi against Malaysia and the Philippines claim on Sabah.

Sultanate of Sulu: Pawn or legacy?

Malaysia has responded with troops and fighter jets to an ancient and deadly claim to a remote corner of Borneo. It marked a dramatic conclusion to a bizarre three-week siege that appeared to catch the governments of the Philippines and Malaysia off guard. "Part of the reason [for the lack of information] is that they [the Filipinos] do not want any information to leak out. As you know the Filipinos are relaying reports of what is happening on the ground to television stations in Manila, so I think they are trying to keep a tactical advantage by keeping quiet." - James Chinn, Monash University A group of Filipino rebels pitched up in a seaside village on the island of Borneo, and asserted their ancestral ownership rights to the territory. The self-proclaimed Royal Army of Sulu are from the remote Philippine island province of Sulu. They made the short journey by boat to Borneo Island in February, landing in Lahad Datu in Sabah state.

UN Needed for Complete Solution to Sabah's Problems

KOTA KINABALU: Now that the situation in Sabah has attracted the attention of the United Nations (UN) whose Secretary-General has urged the Malaysian government to find an amicable solution, the Government should take the opportunity to invite the UN to facilitate a total and complete solution of the Sabah issue,” said Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

The STAR Sabah Chief said the internal security problems and international issues facing Sabah including the claim on Sabah by the Philippines or Sulu which had culminated into the Lahad Datu bloodbath require a long-term diplomatic and political solution, not a military one.
 

Waking up from slumber in Sabah, Sarawak

By Joe Fernandez

In the Bible, Matthew 13:10-17, it's stated that Jesus said: “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

In 1963, Malaya had a lot. Yet, more was given to them when Sabah and Sarawak were taken away from the people, the Orang Asal in particular.

Even the little that the people of Sabah and Sarawak had was taken away from them, “because while seeing they do not see and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”Matthew 13:10-17

Sabah – jinxed for all time?

The invasion is yet another unwelcome incident pointing
to the federal government's myopic view and disregard
of Sabah’s original ethnic fabric.

By Luke Rintod of FMT

PENAMPANG: There is a troubling question foremost in the minds of Sabahans these days – did it have to be this way?

Many believe that all the unpleasant things happening to Sabah would not have happened if the state had been allowed to remain a sovereign state within the Federation of Malaysia.

Veteran political activist, Fredoline Edwin Lojingki, 72, said the latest in a long line of unwelcome incidents – the intrusion of armed Sulu extremists in Lahad Datu – pointed to the federal government’s myopic view and disregard of the original ethnic fabric in Sabah.

They’re terrorists, not intruders, says Musa

Sabah’s Musa Aman upped the ante when he
barred the use of the term 'Sulu Sultan' in all
media and securities forces references.

KOTA KINABALU: The brief notice to all parties concerned read: “Use the term ‘terrorist’ instead of ‘intruder’; Don’t use the term ‘sultan’ as if we recognise the fact.”

The notice from Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman’s office clearly announced that terrorism had reared its ugly head in Sabah.

In a bid to thoroughly discredit the armed group of Filipinos who daringly took over a small, remote village in Lahad Datu on the east coast of the state and are still fighting Malaysian security forces, Sabah Barisan Nasional government yesterday formally declared the attack as an act of terrorism.

Kiram’s people talk ‘disengagement’

MANILA: More than a week after violence broke out in Sabah between followers of the Sulu sultanate and Malaysian security forces, a brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III today met with Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II to discuss “disengagement”.

Roxas and Sultan Bantilan Esmail Kiram II, Jamalul III’s younger brother, met for almost two hours behind closed doors in Camp Crame.