Poisoning in Malaysia linked to Smuggled Liquor

PETALING JAYA - Another four deaths have been connected to methanol poisoning, bringing the total number of casualties to 33.

Selangor has been the hardest hit with 20 fatalities, followed by Kuala Lumpur (10 deaths) and Perak (three) since the case became known last Monday.

The vast majority of the casualties were Myanmar nationals (11 casualties), followed by Malaysians (nine). The rest were from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Indonesia.

The identity of four casualties remained obscure.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the previous night that the ministry had conducted checks on 586 premises selling liquor and discovered 1,816 bottles labelled with an assortment of brands that did not meet the Food Act and Food Regulations 1985.

He also asked individuals who suspect that they have methanol poisoning to seek for treatment.

“Those who have symptoms of methanol poisoning such as stomach ache, nausea, vomiting, headache, and blurred vision within five days of consuming alcohol need to seek immediate treatment at any clinic or hospital,” he added.

In the meantime, Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye has called for serious activity on illegal liquor.

He encouraged the authorities such as the Customs Department, police and local councils to conduct a crackdown on businesses offering such beverages.

“With the help from the Health Ministry and Chemistry Department, random samples should be taken and analyzed to determine whether the liquor has been adulterated or it contains high levels of methanol,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“A mandatory jail sentence should be imposed on those who sell smuggled or adulterated alcohol.”

Existing laws, he said, should also be revised to curb liquor sales as alcoholic outlets were mushrooming and working with minimal regulation.

Lee attributed the methanol poisoning cases to a lack of authority over liquor sales as many shops were offering cheap smuggled or defiled liquor.

“The main reasons behind the cases are the adulteration of samsu, beer or liquor with cheap but poisonous methanol which is being commercially sold as methylated spirit.

“It baffles me as to why some of the liquor sold in our country contains methanol that exceeds the permitted level, as shown by an analysis done by the Health Ministry,” he said.

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Teacher pushed a student down stairs causing fracture

Chennai: A woman has held up a protest with the Vyasarpadi police expressing that a teacher in a corporation elementary school in Ganeshpuram had beaten up her nine-year-old child and pushed down in the staircase, abandoning him with a broken hand.

Following the complaint, the school authorities issued a transfer certificate to the victim and his brother, said the boy’s mother Athilakshmi, a maid. “The teacher warned me for sleeping and beat me up. She was in a hurry to send all the students out. Since I was packing my bag slowly, she pushed me towards the staircase and I rolled down,” said Tamizhselvan, a Class IV student.

“Though I told the school authorities that my son’s pain was unbearable, they brought a doctor who asked us to apply pain balm. An X-ray test later revealed that he suffered a fracture on his left hand, said Athilakshmi. “They told me I should provide a leave letter since Tamizhselvan would be on leave until his hand healed. Since I don’t know to read and write, they sought my signature on an empty paper. Later on Friday, they told me to withdraw three of my children from the school. They handed over the transfer certificates for Tamizhselvan and Sathish and told me not to bring my daughter Sanjana to school again.”

“Instead of taking action, the Vyasarpadi police forced me to accept a ‘compensation’ of Rs 10,000 and asked me to withdraw the complaint,” Athilakshmi said.

City corporation deputy commissioner (education) Mageswari Ravi Kumar revealed to TOI that the accusation was false. She said the child had fallen down amid a fight with other students and that his parents had decided to pull the children out of the school. Inspector Mohanraj also said the teacher was innocent. He denied offering Rs 10,000 for medical expenses.

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Fireworks explosion kills 24 and injured 49 in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY — Twenty-four individuals, including a child, were killed and no less than 49 others were injured Thursday when two blasts tore through fireworks workshops in a town just  north of Mexico City.

The dead included four firefighters and two cops who rushed to the scene after the main blast, just to be by killed by the second blast.

In an initial statement said by the government of the State of Mexico, there were eight people from the town of Tultepec were killed, along with the six emergency personnel and two other people who hadn't yet been recognized. The state government later raised the loss of life to 24.

First responders were also among the injured said by the government. Helicopters took the injured to several hospitals, and more than 300 police were sent to the scene.

Many residents make a living by creating and selling homemade fireworks and explosions are a regular occurrence. In June, seven people were killed and eight others were injured in a blast in Tultepec.

In December 2016, in an open-air fireworks market crowded with holiday shoppers a massive fire broke out killing several dozens of people.

In other places in Mexico deadly fireworks explosions have also occurred. In 2002, a blast at a market in the Gulf coast city of Veracruz killed 29 people; in 1999, 63 people died when an explosion of illegally stored fireworks destroyed part of the city of Celaya; in 1988, a fireworks blast in Mexico City's La Merced market killed at least 68 people; and in 2013, a rocket struck a truck loaded with fireworks for a religious procession in Tlaxcala state, killing 17 people.

Security measures at firecrackers workshops and markets have been a matter of constant debate in Mexico. While regulations exist on the books, many continue making powerful firecrackers and bottle rockets and selling them to the public.

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The Meeting with the Filipinos in Korea was sealed “with a kiss”

SEOUL — President Duterte finished his two-hour long speech before the Filipino people community on Sunday night with a snappy kiss from a Filipina whom he gave with a book he often cited in condemning the Catholic Church.

The President had offered the book "Altars of Secrets: Sex, Politics and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church" composed by the late columnist Aries Rufo to the group of audience.

He initially asked whether there was a priest around, drawing out laughter from the group, who clearly knew the President's tiff with Catholic bishops who had reprimanded his war on drugs.

In the midst of cheers from the group, the President called two women who rushed to the stage. One kissed him on the cheek while the other jumped up and down while talking with him.

President Duterte then playfully gestured to one of the ladies to give him a kiss on the lips. She gave him a smack.

Before this, the President joked that the audience may end up leaving the Grand Hilton hotel and convention center as members of his "lglesia ni Rodrigo."

He joked that under his "church," individuals would make themselves happy since "you only live once."

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Boracay in the State of Calamity

Metro Manila, Philippines - President Rodrigo Duterte said he will declare a condition of calamity in one of the country's most famous travel destinations.

"Sabi ko na, "Sir, inutusan kita six months. Tapusin mo 'yang problema sa Boracay," [I said, "Sir, you have six months. Finish the problem in Boracay."]" Duterte said in a Tuesday speech in Malacañang, pertaining to his marching orders to Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) officer-in-charge Eduardo Año.

The state of calamity would allow the quick release of funds for those individuals who might be financially displaced by the island's clean-up, Duterte said.

The DILG declared a six-month state of calamity to accelerate rehabilitation endeavors, in spite of the fact that the President did not specify a particular period.

On Feb. 10, Duterte called Boracay a "cesspool" and requested the DENR to clean up the island within six months.

On Feb. 20, the DENR distribute a "mission team" to address the island's environmental issues, with no less than 81 establishments accepting notices of violation.

Meanwhile, the DILG said that more than 800 establishments in Boracay are facing different violations.

"In the meantime, if I were from Boracay or you guys there, the best thing for you to do is to cooperate with the government and hasten the cleanup," Duterte said. "For as long as there are s*** coming out of those pipes draining to the sea, I will never give you the time of the day na bumalik diyan [to return there]."

Duterte likewise cautioned the judiciary not to interfere in the rehabilitation endeavors.

"I would caution the courts not to interfere by issuing TRO (temporary restraining order) because you would just exacerbate the situation," he said.

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Briton and German arrested for smuggling illegal drugs in Bali airport

BALI: Indonesian customs officials said they have captured two foreigners accused of attempting to smuggle drugs onto the tourist island of Bali.

A German man is escorted by customs officers in Bali 

Customs chief Himawan Indarjono said British resident Adam Scott and German Siegfried Karl Achim Ruckel were arrested before the end of last month at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport.

He said officers seized a jug with 655 Diazepam tablets, otherwise called Valium, from Mr Scott, a computer analyst who arrived from Bangkok on Jan 24. The amount, which was not reported on his customs declaration, was judged to be more than he needed for personal use.

He said Mr Scott is suspected with damaging the Customs and Psychotropic laws, under which he could face up to 10 years in jail and a fine of $22,000 if discovered guilty.

Another customs official, Husni Syaiful, said Mr Ruckel arrived two days later from Doha and had 7g of heroin, 0.2g of amphetamine and 15.3g of morphine.

In the event that discovered guilty, Mr Ruckel could face up to a death sentence and a fine of up to $730,000.

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws and convicted smugglers are some of the time executed.

Eighteen convicts, mostly foreigners, have been executed under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who took office in October 2014 and declared a war on illegal drugs.

More than 150 individuals are currently on death row, for the most part for drug crimes. Around one-third of them are foreigners.

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Philippines can develop ships to ensure the military capability

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines can build its own shipbuilding industry to guarantee the military will have the ability to secure the country and its territorial waters from piracy, terrorism and encroachment, Sen. Richard Gordon said.

Gordon noted some global giants in shipbuilding – like Hanjin Heavy Industries in Subic, Zambales – have set up tremendous shipyards in different parts of the country in acknowledgment of Filipinos' abilities.

“We are an archipelagic country; we should be able to build ships. We should have ships made in the Philippines – in Cebu, in Hanjin in Subic,” the senator said in a statement.

“We should really make an effort to strengthen our military, because we are facing both internal and external threats. At the same time, we should consistently assert our national territory, which includes Scarborough Shoal and Benham Rise, in no uncertain terms,” he said.

He said the current launching by Hanjin of the first-ever Subic-made 20,600-TEU (twenty-foot equal unit) class compartment vessel shows that Filipinos have the ability to assemble ships.

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