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Ringgit opens firmer against US dollar Posted: 11 Feb 2014 06:43 PM PST The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar today, supported by continuous buying interest, dealers said. At 9am, the local unit was quoted at 3.3250/3280 against a greenback from yesterday's close at 3.3300/3330. On the local front, dealers said investors were eagerly awaiting for the fourth quarter 2013 gross domestic product data to be released later today. Against other major currencies, the ringgit was traded mixed. The ringgit improved against the Singapore dollar to 2.6224/6250 from yesterday's close at 2.6270/2294 and strengthened against the euro to 4.5330/5377 from Tuesday's close at 4.5514/5565. However, the ringgit weakened against the British pound to 5.4673/4732 from Tuesday's close at 5.4645/4708 and there was a slight change against the yen at 3.2449/2494 from yesterday's 3.2548/3.2587 close.-- Bernama

Analysts upbeat on Gamuda Posted: 11 Feb 2014 07:15 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Analysts remained upbeat on Gamuda Bhd despite the company's failure to gain majority control in Kesas Holdings Bhd, the concessionaire of Lebuhraya Shah Alam. Kenanga Research said it is neutral on the news as even if PNB rejects Gamuda's offer, the latter will still own 50 per cent of the Kesas highway given that Amcorp Properties Bhd most likely will sign a definite agreement to sell its 20 per cent stake to Gamuda. "And Gamuda does not have to consolidate Kesas' balance sheet into its book, hence mild impact to Gamuda' gearing level," the research house said in a note. On Monday, Gamuda, which already owns 30 per cent of Kesas, said both the company and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) were unable to execute a definitive agreement for the 20 per cent equity sale by the cut-off date on Friday. Kenanga said assuming Gamuda will only own 50 per cent of Kesas, its earnings is expected to be boosted by additional RM24 million to RM32 million on a recurring basis. "We will likely revise higher our FY14 and FY15 earnings estimates by 4.0 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively, once Gamuda inked a definitive agreement with Amcorp," it said. On December 23 last year, PNB had accepted in principle to dispose its 20 per cent in Kesas to Gamuda for RM208 million, implying total valuation of RM1.4 billion for the highway. "We do not rule out any possibilities that Gamuda might be offering PNB an even higher valuation than RM280 million despite the former had already revised the offer price higher by 12 per cent on December 23, 2013," Kenanga said. The research house said although the Kesas deal with PNB had lapsed and the deadlock in Selangor's water consolidation, Gamuda's outlook remains bright on the back of strong earnings growth, driven by unbilled orderbook and property sales of RM3.1 billion and RM1.7 billion, respectively, and the group being a prime beneficiary of rail-related infrastructure spending like the mass rapid transit project. "Pending completion of the transaction, we maintain our target price of RM5.25 on Gamuda. Post-transaction with Amcorp, we will adjust our target price to RM5.22 to reflect the increased stake in Kesas from 30 per cent to 50 per cent," it said. Meanwhile, MIDF Research has maintained its buy call, with unchanged target price of RM5.24 on Gamuda. "PNB's acceptance for Kesas takeover offer by Gamuda has lapsed, while earnings accretion from Amcorp's stake is quite attractive," it said. Another research house, Public Investment said the latest rejection would mean that only Amcorp Properties, which has 20 per cent stake in Kesas, has taken up the offer. "This came as a negative surprise as we have expected Gamuda to end up with 70 per cent stake, after improving its earlier bids by 12 per cent. "We maintain neutral, with unchanged target price of RM4.90 on parity with our revised sum-of-the-part valuation. In view of the anticipated infrastructure spending, job flows for Gamuda remains good but we opine the risk-reward is not attractive as yet," it said in a note.

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House Republicans drop bid to tie other issues to debt ceiling - CNN Posted: 11 Feb 2014 08:30 AM PST STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: Speaker John Boehner says he'll vote for a "clean" debt ceiling increase NEW: Some Republicans say GOP support for a clean measure is uncertain The issue threatened to cause more congressional gridlock The debt ceiling must be raised by February 27 Washington (CNN) -- House Speaker John Boehner appeared to acknowledge political reality Tuesday, confirming he would drop efforts to link other issues to the need to raise the federal borrowing limit by the end of February. The issue had threatened more congressional gridlock, with President Barack Obama and Democrats rejecting any negotiations over the need to increase the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said last week the debt ceiling must be raised by February 27 to ensure the full faith and credit of the United States. On Monday night, House Republicans had signaled they would demand a condition for raising the borrowing limit, according to legislators following a closed-door meeting. The plan would have raised the debt limit until March 2015, which gets Congress beyond the November elections. It also would have repealed cuts to military pensions that were part of the recently passed budget. Less than 18 hours later though, Boehner told reporters that the plan endorsed the night before lacked enough GOP support to pass without help from Democrats. "We don't have 218 votes, and when you don't have 218 votes, you have nothing," Boehner said. Some conservatives oppose raising the debt ceiling under any circumstance, while Democrats have made it clear they would vote against any measure that attached other provisions to increasing the borrowing limit. Boehner needs at least 18 Republicans to join the expected unanimous Democratic support for a "clean" debt ceiling measure in a vote expected as soon as Wednesday. Otherwise, there could be another protracted political impasse despised by voters. Asked Tuesday if he had the 18 GOP votes, Boehner said: "We're going to have to find them. I'll be one of them." However, some Republicans immediately balked at the shift by their leader, saying they would oppose a debt ceiling measure that lacked additional provisions they sought. Rep. Renee Ellmers of North Carolina said she would vote against the clean proposal and that GOP leaders might be forced to go back to their original plan. Boehner ally Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, an influential House Republican, said he was undecided on how to vote on a clean measure. Republicans facing pressure from conservatives ahead of the November vote are reluctant to back an increase in the borrowing limit, a core issue for the political right because it represents rising federal debt. Boehner sought to put the blame for a clean debt ceiling bill on Obama, saying the rising federal debt was the President's fault. "It's the President driving up the debt and the President wanted to do nothing about the debt that's occurring, will not engage in our long-term spending problem," Boehner said. "And so, let his party give him the debt ceiling increase that he wants." At the same time, Boehner declared himself disappointed at what he called a "lost opportunity" to address unsustainable federal spending. Asked by CNN about the reported GOP reversal, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said it would be "the smart thing to do." The GOP plan discussed Monday night would repeal cuts to annual cost-of-living increases for some veterans that were part of a compromise spending deal for the current fiscal year. To pay for the repealed cuts, Republicans propose extending for a year the mandatory federal spending reductions known as sequestration -- a stance opposed by Democrats. If a vote doesn't happen by Wednesday, the debate on the debt ceiling would likely get delayed until February 25 -- two days before the treasury chief's deadline -- because of a shortened House work schedule in coming weeks due in part to the Presidents Day break. Republicans across the ideological spectrum agree that another round of political brinksmanship could harm their party after it got blamed for October's federal government shutdown. A recent CNN/ORC International poll found that 54% of respondents would blame congressional Republicans for a failure to raise the debt ceiling, while 29% would blame Obama and 12% would blame both. CNN's Lisa Desjardins and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 0 Comments » SHARE THIS Print Email More sharing

Shirley Temple Black dies at Woodside home - San Jose Mercury News Posted: 11 Feb 2014 08:27 AM PST Shirley Temple, an actress with curls, dimples and a legendary smile who was known to many as Mrs. Charles Alden Black and an American diplomat of considerable acclaim, died Monday at night at her Woodside home. Known in private life as Shirley Temple Black, she was surrounded by family members and caregivers, according to publicist Cheryl Kagan. She was 85. "We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and most importantly as our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and adored wife for fifty-five years of the late and much missed Charles Alden Black," a family statement said. Temple had lived in Woodside for 46 years. Shirley Temple celebrating the arrival of a new year on Dec. 26, 1936. (Fox Photos/Getty Images) During her diplomatic career, she was delegate to the United Nations, White House chief of protocol, ambassador to Ghana and ambassador to Czechoslovakia. As a child, however, she was so endearing as a 4-year-old movie star during the Great Depression that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was moved to remark: "It is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents, an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles." Black always said her Hollywood career lasted 19 years, into the 1950s, her 20s. For many of her real fans, however, she was never older than 10, and the movies that made her famous were produced from 1932 to 1939. A half-century later, her autobiography recognized that. Her book-signing tour for "Child Star" drew thousands across the country in 1988. In Campbell, after Shirley Temple Black quit signing, with many of her 2,000 fans who showed up still waiting in line, she did not sneak out of the PruneYard. She was "classy" enough, as one observer put it, to face her fans and thank them as she walked out the front door. "I'm not the back-door type," she told a Mercury News interviewer. Black's star was still so bright in 1989, when she was 61, that the autobiography rose to No. 4 on the best-seller list in four weeks. Moreover, it covered only her acting years. She indicated that she would record the rest of her life, her matronly years and her diplomatic years, but she died before she could publish her side of that period. Black identified her "discoverer'' as Jay Gorney, a songwriter for Fox Film's "Stand Up and Cheer." Her little song-and-dance audition prompted the actor Harold Lloyd to proclaim to Shirley's mother, Gertrude, "My God! Another Coogan." It didn't take long for Shirley Temple to eclipse Jackie Coogan as a child star. Before she was 12 she had made, among 40 movies, "The Little Marker," "The Little Colonel" and "The Littlest Rebel" and sang probably her signature song, "On the Good Ship Lollipop'' in "Bright Eyes." "Dimples" fit her smile. She wore Heidi's clothes in "Heidi." She had critics writing with rapture about "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' and she was awarded a miniature Oscar at the Academy Awards in 1935. For more than four years in the late 1930s, Shirley Temple was No. 1 in box-office ticket sales, and more than a million little girls wore Shirley Temple dresses, according to Lester David and Irene David, two of her biographers. But in 1940 her box-office popularity fell to No. 5 and George and Gertrude Temple bought their daughter's contract for a reported $300,000. The Davids characterized 20th Century Fox's goodbye gifts to Shirley Temple -- an upright piano and some of the costumes she wore -- as miserly. Some saw the irony in her movie "Poor Little Rich Girl," foretelling Shirley Temple Black's misfortune with her own wealth. In "Child Star," she wrote, "Between Father and me it was a dead heat who was least interested in seeing me financially independent." As an adult, she confronted her parents about the more than $3 million she had earned as an actress. She discovered that after bills had been paid, the $800,000 left had been invested in stocks and bonds owned by her parents. Shirley Temple Black was left with $44,000 and the title to a cottage she had used on a movie lot. Although Black kept making movies into the '50s for producer David O. Selznick -- among them two World War II films "Since You Went Away" and the critically praised "I'll Be Seeing You" -- her career essentially was over. On Sept. 19, 1945, 17-year-old Shirley Temple had married 24-year-old John Agar, an Army sergeant whose father was an Illinois meatpacker. He, too, became an actor, but Selznick's pairing of the couple in John Ford's "Fort Apache" and "Adventure in Baltimore" didn't advance either career. Their marriage produced Linda Susan Agar in January 1948 and then dissolved in December 1949. (Agar died in April 2002.) In 1950, Shirley Temple married Charles Alden Black, a Stanford graduate and son of the president of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. They had a son, Charles Jr., and a daughter, Lori, and the couple never had a fight, Shirley Temple Black wrote in her autobiography. That marriage lasted until his death in 2005 at age 86. While Charlie Black moved from the American Broadcasting Cos. to then-Stanford Research Institute to Ampex Corp. and finally to his own marine research company, Mardela Corp., his wife established herself as a community volunteer and mother in Woodside. She was not finished as a public person, however. In 1967, candidate Shirley Temple Black's name recognition could not carry her to Congress, and she lost decisively in a Republican primary contest with Paul N. "Pete" McCloskey, who went on to win election and remain in the House of Representatives for more than a dozen years. Black became a near-million-dollar fundraiser for the GOP in the 1968 presidential election and earned an appointment as delegate to the 24th General Assembly of the United Nations. A mastectomy in 1972 to thwart breast cancer hardly fazed Black publicly and she issued a statement urging other women to get checked by their doctors and vowed, "I have much more to accomplish before I am through." She accepted a Nixon appointment to the President's Council on Environmental Quality. In the 1970s, President Ford named her U.S. ambassador to Ghana and then the first female chief of protocol, which carried the dual rank of ambassador and assistant secretary of state. She followed with other United Nations appointments in the 1980s, moving to Prague as U.S. ambassador during the last months of communism in Eastern Europe. In the Mercury News' millennium series "Voices of Our Time" published in 1999, she recalled a November 1989 celebration of Czechs and Slovaks: "It was held on the Letna Plain, where almost a million people gathered one cold, snowy night and listened to speeches from Vaclav Havel and others. Then they all took their keys from their pockets and shook them in the air, jangled them up high. It was a clean, undeniable call for liberty. That was an amazing sight. "Then freedom came to Czechoslovakia, and the roads had a lot of twists and turnings and rocks in the way. Observing it, I found that the process they went through to achieve their freedom evoked cheers of satisfaction and genuine happiness from many of us. It also evoked anxiety. Freedom is not easy to achieve.'' She said she thought observing the revolution was the most important event she had witnessed. Of her diplomatic years, Black observed: "The thing that's nice about being Shirley Temple is that Shirley Temple opens doors for me. Shirley Temple Black can keep the doors open and accomplish something worthwhile. Just about everyone knows Shirley Temple. They consider me a friend before they meet me and they trust me. So, I have friends in some places in many parts of the world even the U.S. government doesn't have.''           The Associated Press contributed to this report. Shirley Temple Black Born: April 23, 1928, Santa Monica, Calif. Died: Feb. 10, 2014, Woodside, Calif. Predeceased in death by her husband, Charles Alden Black, who died in 2005 Survivors: Daughters, Susan, Lori; son, Charles Jr.

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Buy DiGi.Com shares, says RHB Posted: 10 Feb 2014 05:49 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Research keeps its 'buy' rating on DiGi.Com Bhd, with an unchanged fair value of MYR5.60. RHB said the company's 2014 revenue growth on the back of solid data growth stands out among its local peers, while its financial year 2014 dividend yield of 5 per cent is decent. The research house added that management appears upbeat on plans for 2014, and is prepared to spend more on capex to capitalise on recently modernised network to generate more data growth. "The prepaid segment saw good growth in financial year 2013, but postpaid contribution will likely increase now that DiGi is armed with better capacity and coverage. It will focus on ramping up network population coverage. "Although this would involve more capex, we think this is the right approach, as it will enable the telco to better monetise data by serving areas that are currently underserved, as well as close the gap with peers and increase scale. "By year-end, management expects 3G coverage to reach 86 per cent (from 80 per cent currently vs peers' >85 per cent) and roll out 1,000 LTE sites, said RHB in a report today. According to RHB, DiGi has generally held back on driving postpaid subscriber growth, but this looks likely to change. "Armed with better capacity and coverage, we think it could become more aggressive in postpaid – something it was unable to push for prior to the completion of its network modernisation in third quarter of 2013. "Management expects earning margins to remain stable going forward. We understand that DiGi is beginning to see some scale in data, given that mobile internet in fourth quarter of 2013 expanded by 2-3 times compared to first quarter of 2012," added RHB. RHB said that ongoing efforts to increase fiberisation of sites in collaboration with Celcom (3,000km already jointly rolled out and expected to reach 10,000km by 2016) present another opportunity to reap cost savings.

Hold Petronas Gas: AmeSecurities Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:23 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: AmeSecurities maintains its 'hold' recommendation on Petronas Gas (PGas) with an unchanged fair value of RM24.30 per share. The research house said PGas new gas processing and transmission agreement will commence in April, but the new pricing mechanism will be similar to the current model, which had provided a significant earnings boost back in 2010-2011. Additionally, the final investment decision for the proposed Lahad Datu Regassification Terminal's (RGT) is uncertain, following the incursion by Sulu rebels earlier last year. It noted that PGas' financial year 2014 forward earnings are to contract due to the normalisation of corporate tax rate as financial year 2013 enjoyed the Lekas RGT's RM626 million investment allowance plus deferred tax write-backs. "While awaiting Petronas' final investment decision by first quarter of 2014, we understand that the capacity of the Pengerang Onshore RGT may not be significantly larger than the Lekas terminal, which was built on a jetty. "Based on an overall cost of RM4billion, project internal rate of return of 9 per cent, equity discount rate of 10 per cent and debt to equity ratio of 80:20, this project could potentially raise the group's stock valuation by 64 sen," AmeSecurities said.

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Syrian Peace Talks Resume in Geneva - Voice of America Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:41 AM PST A second round of peace talks between delegates from the Syrian government and the opposition is underway in Geneva. U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi held separate meetings Monday with the two sides as he attempts to get them to commit to discussing issues such as setting up a potential transitional government and humanitarian aid in besieged areas. Syrian opposition spokesman Monzer Akbik said during Monday's meeting with Brahimi, his side laid out their vision of a transitional government in Syria. "We submitted also another paper talking about our vision to the political solution by transition to a transitional governing body, this is what Geneva communique says and the vision shows that a transitional governing body should be able, with the full authority, in a neutral environment, should be able to end the violence and take the country towards reconciliation and democracy." A spokesman for Syria's opposition National Coalition, Louay al-Safi, also denounced what he said were the government's use of "barrel bombs", which the opposition says were responsible for the deaths of more than 1,800 people last week. "It is not acceptable that the regime would send its own delegation to talk peace while it is killing our people in Syria. This must stop, we ask the international community to do something about it. " Monday's talks follow an initial round last month that ended with little progress, but one that Brahimi called "a modest beginning" to build on. Following the meeting with opposition delegates, Brahimi met with the Syrian government delegation but no afternoon talks were expected. Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Monday that France is preparing a new draft U.N. Security Council resolution to help speed food and medicine to those in besieged areas. His comments follow the evacuation Sunday of 600 people from rebel-held areas in the war-battered city of Homs. The city's mayor said an aid shipment reached the city, despite snipers hindering the operation and reports the road into the old city was mined. The International Red Cross said Monday that one driver was wounded Saturday when clearly labeled trucks from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent entered the old city and came under fire. The group called for all parties in Syria to protect health care and humanitarian personnel, and for access to all besieged areas in the country. U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said she was disappointed by reports aid workers were deliberately targeted. She called it a stark reminder of the dangers civilians and aid workers face each day in Syria. A year-long blockade of Homs by Syrian government forces has created severe food shortages, and the U.N. says 2,500 people have been stranded since mid-2012. Also Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Islamist fighters killed at least 40 people Sunday in an attack on an Alawite village. The monitoring group said the attack happened in Hama province, and that the dead included at least 20 civilians. More than 130,000 people have been killed and 9 million forced from their homes since the conflict began in 2011.

Michael Sam, college football star and top NFL prospect, says he's gay - CNN Posted: 10 Feb 2014 09:17 AM PST Former Missouri Tigers defensive end and 2014 NFL draft entrant Michael Sam tells ESPN and The New York Times on February 9 that he is gay. Sam is seen here before the NCAA Senior Bowl on Saturday, January 25, in Mobile, Alabama. HIDE CAPTION Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam Football player Michael Sam << < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 > >> STORY HIGHLIGHTS Michael Sam was an All-American lineman at the University of Missouri With his skills, he could be drafted by the NFL in May He'd be the first openly gay draftee in pro football Sam says he told his college teammates last fall and suffered no backlash (CNN) -- Michael Sam, an All-American defensive lineman from the University of Missouri, publicly revealed that he's gay Sunday, creating the possibility he'll be the first openly gay player drafted by the National Football League. "I came to tell the world I'm an openly proud gay man," he said in an interview with ESPN. He said he told his Missouri teammates in August and suffered no repercussions. He said he was surprised to discover many people in the media already knew he was gay. "I understand how big this is," Sam said in the ESPN interview. "It's a big deal. No one has done this before. And it's kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be ... I want to be a football player in the NFL." Former Missouri Tigers defensive end and 2014 NFL draft entrant Michael Sam tells ESPN and The New York Times that he is gay on February 9. Sam is seen here running on to the field before the NCAA Senior Bowl on Saturday, January 25, in Mobile, Alabama. Openly gay athletes HIDE CAPTION << < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 > >> Sam also spoke about his sexual orientation Sunday to The New York Times, saying: "I just want to make sure I could tell my story the way I want to tell it. I just want to own my truth." Sam, at 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds, starred in college football last season. Besides being first team All-American, he was named the top defensive player in the Southeastern Conference, considered the nation's best league. Teammates named him the team's most valuable player. With those credentials, he's expected to be picked in the NFL draft in May. The Bleacher Report mock draft projected him to go in the late rounds because "athletic limitations including a lack of flexibility and a lack of optimal size are concerning." The NFL issued a statement on Twitter on Sunday: "We admire Michael Sam's honesty and courage. Michael is a football player. Any player with ability and determination can succeed in the NFL. We look forward to welcoming and supporting Michael Sam in 2014." However, the NFL has made headlines on the issue of sexual orientation in the past. Last year, a University of Colorado player said an NFL team asked him if he liked girls and had a girlfriend. The NFL quickly said, "Any team or employee that inquires about impermissible subjects or makes an employment decision based on such factors is subject to league discipline." Sam issued his own Tweet: "I want to thank everybody for their support and encouragement, especially @espn, @nytimes and @nfl. I am proud to tell my story to the world!" Sam's announcement comes as the federal government expands its recognition of same-sex marriages. Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department will issue a memo Monday that extends the federal government's recognition of same-sex marriages, even in the 34 states that don't consider it legal. Other athletes have come out as gay, but they didn't have Sam's profile. GLAAD, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender media advocacy group, said Sam is "the latest high-profile athlete to come out as LGBT. Others include the NBA's Jason Collins, the WNBA's Brittney Griner, WWE's Darren Young, UFC's Liz Carmouche, MMA's Fallon Fox and Major League Soccer's Robbie Rogers." Of those athletes, Collins made the biggest media splash. He's not playing in the NBA this season. Praise poured in for Sam, who overcame a rough childhood in which one of his brothers was killed and others ended up in prison. Sam's head football coach at Missouri, Gary Pinkel, said: "We're really happy for Michael that he's made the decision to announce this, and we're proud of him and how he represents Mizzou. Michael is a great example of just how important it is to be respectful of others, he's taught a lot of people here first-hand that it doesn't matter what your background is, or your personal orientation, we're all on the same team and we all support each other." GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis said in a prepared statement: "By rewriting the script for countless young athletes, Michael has demonstrated the leadership that, along with his impressive skills on the field, makes him a natural fit for the NFL. With acceptance of LGBT people rising across our coasts -- in our schools, churches, and workplaces -- it's clear that America is ready for an openly gay football star." 0 Comments » SHARE THIS Print Email More sharing

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Ringgit opens higher against US dollar Posted: 09 Feb 2014 06:51 PM PST The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar in early trading Monday following an 'over-weight' call on the ringgit by the Citigroup's economist, a currency dealer said. At 9.15am, the ringgit was quoted at 3.3220/3255 vis-a-vis a greenback against Friday's close at 3.3290/3320. The dealer said the better-than-expected export figures announced by the International Trade and Industry Ministry on Friday provided the impetus towards positive sentiments for the ringgit. Malaysia's exports surged to a 26-month high at 14.4 per cent year-on-year in December last year. Another dealer said the ringgit is expected to trade between 3.30 and 3.33 range this week. Against other major currencies, the ringgit was traded mixed. The local unit was traded higher against the Singapore dollar at 2.6231/6257 from 2.6277/6259 on Friday and rose against the yen to 3.2432/2468 from 3.2624/2660 last week. The ringgit, however, was traded weaker against the British pound to 5.4540/4586 from 5.4396/4465 on Friday and weakened against the euro to 4.5283/5317 from 4.5148/5195 last week.-- Bernama

KLCI futures open firmer Posted: 09 Feb 2014 06:44 PM PST The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) futures contracts (FKLI) on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives sustained last week's momentum to open firmer today, tracking the uptrend in the underlying cash market. Spot month February 2014 rose 8.5 points to 1,818.5, March 2014 and June 2014 gained nine points each to 1,818 and 1,815, respectively, and September 2014 added 10.5 points to 1,811.5. Turnover amounted to 2,037 lots while open interest totalled 31,674 contracts. The benchmark FBM KLCI was 9.34 points higher at 1,817.936 points as at 9.45am.-- Bernama

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Jones makes history for Britain - Washington Post Posted: 09 Feb 2014 08:05 AM PST By Associated Press February 9, 2014, 11:02 AM KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Jenny Jones' first snowboarding lesson didn't include, among other things, snow. Instead, the then-teenager spent 30 minutes gingerly making her way over the synthetic material that substitutes for the white stuff on one of the hills near her hometown of Bristol, a couple hours west of London. There were no snowboarders, not great ones anyway, in Great Britain in the late 1990s. There are now, including one with an unlikely and hard-won Olympic medal hanging around her neck. The 33-year-old Jones made history on Sunday in the women's slopestyle final, grabbing bronze with a precise run through challenging Rosa Khutor Extreme Park to become the first British athlete to win a medal in a snow-based Olympic event. "It feels incredible, absolutely incredible," Jones said. "I'm just in a moment right now." One that ended decades of futility for a nation that isn't exactly known for its prowess on powder and whose highest peaks are oversized hills. Skier Alain Baxter briefly gave the country its first medal on snow when he came in third in the slalom in Salt Lake City in 2002. Baxter's medal was later stripped for a failed drug test. Historically, British Olympians who strap boots on have been also-rans or oddities. Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards became a cult hero in Calgary in 1988 when he finished last in two ski jumping events, his large glasses and not exactly textbook form endearing him to some while also paving the way for the International Olympic Committee to institute new qualifying guidelines to keep the likes of Edwards out of harm's way. Those days, however, are long gone. Jones is at the crest of a wave of British snowboarders who have been making inroads on a discipline traditionally dominated by Americans. Barely 24 hours before her history-making run, teammates Jamie Nicholls and Billy Morgan finished in the top 10 in the men's slopestyle finals. Where once the only option for high-level training was a plane ticket to exotic places, there are snow domes popping up all over the United Kingdom. "We've got some great talent coming through and it feels nice to see that strong force from the British side of things," she said. A force which she has led for most of the last 15 years. After getting the bug and working as a housekeeper at a ski resort to give her more time to shred, Jones won her first national snowboarding title in 1999. A decade later she won slopestyle gold at the X Games. The podiums have slowed recently, and a concussion sustained in training two months ago forced her to "have a timeout for a few weeks." Though she arrived in Sochi relatively healthy, she failed to navigate qualifying, forcing her into a semifinal where she posted the third-highest score to squeak into the finals. Getting to the medal round seemed to take some of the pressure off. "Once I was in the finals, it was, just, do the cleanest possible run that you can do," Jones said. While she lacks the big air tricks of gold medalist Jamie Anderson, Jones is technically skilled, peppering her run with meticulous grabs that look fairly easy to the naked eye but are decidedly complex when hurtling down a hill at 30 mph. Jones celebrated after landing the final jump of her second then was forced to wait several anxious moments while the judges tried to figure out what to make of it. When her score of 87.00 was posted — ultimately just a quarter-point better than fourth place — she waved to the pockets of Brits scattered about the stands. "When I first started there wasn't a lot of us," she said. "I would travel a lot with girls from other nationalities, other parts of Europe. There's been an increase of British riders." A number that only figures to grow after the country's breakthrough weekend. Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Justice Department to give married same-sex couples equal protection - Washington Post Posted: 09 Feb 2014 08:20 AM PST The Justice Department on Monday will instruct all of its employees across the country, for the first time, to give lawful same-sex marriages sweeping equal protection under the law in every program it administers, from courthouse proceedings to prison visits to the compensation of surviving spouses of public safety officers. In a new policy memo, the department will spell out the rights of same-sex couples, including the right to decline to give testimony that might incriminate their spouses, even if their marriages are not recognized in the state where the couple lives. Under the Justice Department policy, federal inmates in same-sex marriages will also be entitled to the same rights and privileges as inmates in heterosexual marriages, including visitation by a spouse, escorted trips to attend a spouse's funeral, correspondence with a spouse, and compassionate release or reduction in sentence based on the incapacitation of an inmate's spouse. In addition, an inmate in a same-sex marriage can be furloughed to be present during a crisis involving a spouse. In bankruptcy cases, same-sex married couples will be eligible to file for bankruptcy jointly. Domestic support obligations will include debts, such as alimony, owed to a former same-sex spouse. Certain debts to same-sex spouses or former spouses should be excepted from discharge. "This means that, in every courthouse, in every proceeding and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States — they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections, and rights as opposite-sex marriages under federal law," Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a speech Saturday night at the Human Rights Campaign's Greater New York Gala at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, where he announced the new policy. "This landmark announcement will change the lives of countless committed gay and lesbian couples for the better," Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a statement. "While the immediate effect of these policy decisions is that all married gay couples will be treated equally under the law, the long-term effects are more profound. Today, our nation moves closer toward its ideals of equality and fairness for all." The Justice Department's new policy comes three years after it said it would not defend cases in court involving the Defense of Marriage Act anymore. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that a key part of DOMA was unconstitutional. The ruling "marked a major victory for the cause of equal protection under U.S. law, and a significant step forward for committed and loving couples throughout the country," Holder said Tuesday in Sweden during an address to the Swedish parliament. In January, Holder intervened in the legal battle over same-sex marriage in Utah and announced that the more than 1,300 same-sex marriages that took place there in December and January are considered legal under federal law, even though a step by the Supreme Court cast doubt on the marriages and state officials would not recognize those unions. On Saturday, the National Organization for Marriage released a statement decrying the policy move. "This is just the latest in a series of moves by the Obama administration, and in particular the Department of Justice, to undermine the authority and sovereignty of the states to make their own determinations regulating the institution of marriage," Brian Brown, the group's president, said in the statement. "The American public needs to realize how egregious and how dangerous these usurpations are and how far-reaching the implications can be. The changes being proposed here . . . serve as a potent reminder of why it is simply a lie to say that redefining marriage doesn't affect everyone in society." The Justice Department has already approved policy changes by other federal agencies to extend federal benefits to same-sex married couples. Last summer, the Office of Personnel Management announced that federal employees in same-sex marriages could apply for health, dental, life, long-term care and retirement benefits. The Department of Health and Human Services said that legally married same-sex seniors on Medicare would be eligible for equal benefits and joint placement in nursing homes. The Social Security Administration will pay death benefits to survivors of a same-sex marriage. The Department of Homeland Security will treat same-sex spouses equally for the purposes of obtaining a green card if the spouse is a foreign national. And the IRS has begun treating same-sex marriages equally for tax-filing purposes. "We are, right now, in the middle of marking a number of 50-year anniversaries of key milestones in the civil rights movement," Holder said Saturday night. "And yet, as all- important as the fight against racial discrimination was then, and remains today, know this: My commitment to confronting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity runs just as deep." Holder made a similar statement in favor of expanding LGBT rights in Sweden on Tuesday. The new policy will have "important, real-world implications for same-sex married couples that interact with the criminal justice system," Holder said. The Justice Department will also recognize same-sex couples in a number of key benefits programs it administers, such as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program, which provides death benefits and educational benefits to surviving spouses of public safety officers. "This program is one way that we, as a country, stand by the families of those who put themselves in harm's way to keep our communities safe, and we must never do that selectively," Holder said. "When any law enforcement officer falls in the line of duty or is gravely injured, the federal government should stand by that hero's spouse — no matter whether that spouse is straight or gay."

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Sage Kotsenburg wins first Olympic gold in men's slopestyle competiton - Washington Post Posted: 08 Feb 2014 08:30 AM PST Photos: View Photo Gallery: American wins shocker in slopestyle, U.S. women's hockey defeats Finland, plus downhill skiing action from Saturday. KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — With his long blonde hair sprouting out of a tan knit cap, Sage Kotsenburg took a deep breath, not fully prepared for what was coming next. Out of the best snowboarders in the world, they were about to announce the most unlikely of gold medal recipients. Kotsenburg, his laid-back lingo native to the slopes, later said he was "stoked" after such a "sick" men's slopestyle competition. But even after his name was announced, the affable 20-year old from Park City, Utah, stood shocked on the Olympic podium, wearing a frozen, immovable smile. He'd won the first gold medal of these Olympics and the first ever rewarded in the slopestyle event. "I'm pretty surprised I won, honestly," he said. How unlikely was Kotsenburg's gold medal win? Well, consider this: He won a Grand Prix event three weeks ago in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. Before that, he was stuck in a "mega drought" and by his own recollection hadn't won a snowboard competition since he was 11. "Coming here and winning, I can't even describe the feeling," he said. "It's so cool." The slopestyle event — a steep snowboard course featuring long rails and big jumps — debuted at these Sochi Olympics and made headlines earlier in the week when American Shaun White, the most famous athlete the sport has known, dropped out of the competition. By comparison, Kotsenburg was among the least-known participants. "I woke up today not even really thinking about the finals," he said, "thinking about semifinals first." Photos: View Photo Gallery: The 2014 Sochi Olympics will feature official team uniforms that range from the conservative to the ridiculous. A total of 20 riders hit the mountain Saturday morning, competing for one of four remaining spots in the afternoon finals. Kotsenburg posted the second-highest mark and was the only American to advance. "Whoa how random is this I made finals at the Olympics!!!" he tweeted to his supporters. He figured he had nothing to lose in the finals. He called his brother and said he was considering the unthinkable: throwing a trick on the biggest stage imaginable that he'd never before attempted. It's called a 1620 Japan — imagine 4½ rotations with a behind-the-back board grab — and he nailed it, capping off a stylish run where an array of board grabs impressed more than any big eye-popping jumps. "I had no idea I was even going to do a 1620 in my run until, like, three minutes before I dropped," he said. "That's kind of what I'm all about, just kind of being random." Kotsenburg had no clue how the judges would receive it. Since Thursday's qualification round, snowboarders had been scratching their heads, trying to decipher the Olympic scoring. Kotsenburg was among the most vocal riders earlier in the week, saying judges were encouraging "robotic" jumps and not rewarding creativity. "A lot of people in snowboarding spoke out about what they thought about the judging. Maybe they saw it," he said. "When you have a whole community of snowboarders thinking the judging is off, you got to take something into consideration, like, 'Hey, maybe we should be rewarding this more.'" Evolving sports of the Winter Olympics Impressed by Saturday's run in the finals, the judges gave Kotsenburg a score of 93.5 — "Pretty sick to see that some weird, creative stuff got rewarded," he'd say later — and then the American rider had to hold his breath as he watched the rest of the field try to top his mark. One by one they came down, flipping, spinning and in some cases, falling. With such a high score to beat, many had to go big and it cost them. Even those who stayed on their feet didn't always get the scores they wanted. Mark McMorris impressively landed two triple corks — Kotsenburg didn't even attempt one — but the Canadian rider finished the competition in third place with a score of 88.75. "We're not really knowing what's going on with the judges," said Canadian rider Maxence Parrot, the fifth-place finisher. "We don't know how they score us, we don't know what they're looking for on the slope. That, I think, is the thing we should get in other contests: to know what judges want to see in the jumps." McMorris, a gold-medal favorite who was competing with a broken rib, didn't hide his disappointment with the scoring in the early rounds, but he refrained from being too critical after his bronze-winning run Saturday. "Just to ride the way I want to ride is the most important thing," McMorris said. "The rest is up to the judges, and I'm happy with everything, the outcome. A lot of people think it should have been different, but I'm going to still smile and represent Canada the best I can." Kotsenburg's score held up. Norway's Staale Sandbech took silver with a 91.75, and the judges seemed to make a statement Saturday. Style and creativity mean something, and few Olympic riders showed more personality on and off the board than Kotsenburg. He was mugging for cameras and waving to the crowd. On the podium, when he heard his name called, he hugged his competitors and invited them to join him on the top step. On the biggest stage, Kotsenburg went for broke, not letting expectations, his own modest history or anything else dictate his run. "That's what snowboarding is all about. It's based off doing what you want to do," Kotsenburg said. "There's no blueprint to snowboarding. You can really make your own mark and put your own flair on tricks."

Younger women outspoken about Woody Allen and Dylan Farrow - Los Angeles Times Posted: 08 Feb 2014 07:53 AM PST Sarah Seltzer grew up a fan of Woody Allen movies — her parents showed her "Sleeper," "Annie Hall," and "Everyone Says I Love You" once she was old enough to get the jokes. As a 31-year-old writer living in New York, she has admired Allen's more recent work, the bittersweet "Midnight in Paris," the meaty roles for women in "Blue Jasmine." So when the New York Times website published an open letter from Allen's adopted daughter Dylan Farrow last week, alleging that the director sexually assaulted her at age 7, Seltzer was thrown. The first time Allen's relationship with Dylan made news, during his ugly custody battle with her adoptive mother, Mia Farrow, in the early 1990s, Seltzer was too young to understand the story. Now she was chilled by it. "I found the letter deeply convincing and very sad," Seltzer said. "I felt very sorry for Dylan and for all the pain that she testified to in the letter. I sort of remember hearing stories about this when I was in elementary school, but it was a little over my head." PHOTOS: The many movies of Woody Allen Allen, who had kept mum all week, responded in a New York Times letter of his own which went online Friday night. "Of course, I did not molest Dylan," said the filmmaker, whose "Blue Jasmine" is up for three Academy Awards and first Broadway musical is a month from beginning previews. "No one wants to discourage abuse victims from speaking out, but one must bear in mind that sometimes there are people who are falsely accused and that is also a terribly destructive thing."  Some of the most vocal and aggrieved reactions to Farrow's letter have often come from women under 40. These include 27-year-old "Girls" creator Lena Dunham, who called Farrow's words "courageous"; film director Miranda July, 39, who tweeted an excerpt of a 1976 People magazine interview in which Allen joked about sharing a love nest with 12-year-old girls; and 17-year-old fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson, who engaged in a conversation with her Twitter followers about whether she could still watch Allen's movies. "I've loved his movies and cited them over the years but I don't want to contribute any more to a culture that tells survivors of abuse that their voices do not matter," Gevinson tweeted. It's predictable, perhaps, that the demographic most outwardly troubled by the renewed allegations is a group more likely to identify with 29-year-old Dylan Farrow than with her 78-year-old father. PHOTOS: Behind the scenes of movies and TV "It's not surprising that a new generation has found Woody Allen, cause he makes great movies," Allen biographer Eric Lax said. "For people 40 and above, they've already lived through this cycle 20 years ago. They made up their minds one way or another. But like the 20-year cicada, this thing has popped up again." Many in Allen's younger female audience began to know him in the midst of his recent, late-career successes, a period in which he has cast appealing actresses like Scarlett Johansson, Rachel McAdams and Cate Blanchett and swoon-worthy leading men like Owen Wilson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Javier Bardem. They're also a group more apt to be frank about sexual abuse. According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, around 1 in 5 girls in the U.S. suffers some form of sexual molestation during childhood. While rape is an ancient issue, talking openly about it is a relatively recent phenomenon. Women under 40 have grown up attending Take Back the Night rallies on their college campuses and reading blog entries about sexual abuse on websites like Buzzfeed and Jezebel; a post on Buzzfeed from this past week, a beginner's guide to rape culture, has been recommended on Facebook 31,000 times. PHOTOS: Woody Allen's highest grossing films "Sensibilities have changed," said Illinois writer Roxane Gay, 39, who penned a piece supportive of Dylan Farrow on Salon. "We're more inclined now to give the victim the benefit of the doubt. As a woman who's experienced sexual violence, I'm predisposed to believe the victim." Many of the young women sharing their feelings about Dylan Farrow on social media aren't old enough to remember the first time the director's family drama erupted publicly, after Allen began dating Mia Farrow's 19-year-old adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, whom he later married. At that time an investigative team from the Yale-New Haven hospital said they found no evidence that Allen abused Dylan, and suggested that she had been coached, but a Connecticut judge awarded custody of Allen and Farrow's three children to Farrow. The story, dormant for 21 years, resurfaced this fall in the form of a Vanity Fair article that included interviews with Mia, Dylan and seven of Mia's other 14 children. The outrage took root on social media. During the Golden Globe Awards last month, as Diane Keaton accepted a Cecil B. DeMille Award on Allen's behalf, Dylan's younger brother Ronan tweeted, "Missed the Woody Allen tribute — did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age 7 before or after Annie Hall?," a comment which has since been retweeted more than 12,000 times. PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times On Saturday, Dylan's letter appeared on the New York Times website, on the blog of Nicholas Kristof, who wrote a column about it. (The Los Angeles Times Opinion editors were also approached about running an op-ed written by Dylan Farrow and decided not to publish it.)

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