UKRAINE: Victims’ families mark MH17 crash one year anniversary

Families of the victims of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, which crashed over eastern Ukraine a year ago, are marking the anniversary amid calls for a UN-backed tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the downing. Memorial services are being held in several countries, including the Netherlands (196 dead) and Australia, home to many of the 298 victims of Flight MH17, which was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was shot down.

On Friday, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott unveiled a permanent memorial to the Australian victims in the nation's capital, Canberra. The memorial, which features a plaque inscribed with the names of Australians who were killed, is set in soil that a police officer brought back from Ukraine.

"He knew that the place where MH17 came to rest was sacred and that a piece of it should come back to Australia," Abbott said. "It was a humane and decent thing for him to know and do. It was a contrast to the savagery that brought down the plane."

Abbott and his wife then laid a wreath at the base of the plaque. Dozens of family members of the victims followed, many in tears, as they laid flowers alongside the wreath in honour of their loved ones.

In the Ukrainian village where the airliner was downed, residents carrying flowers gathered in the church in the center of Hrabove at the start of a procession to the crash site in nearby fields.

Friday's ceremony will include the dedication of a small stone with a plaque. The commemoration has been organized by local leaders and the Russia-backed separatist rebels who control the area.

Memorial services are being held in several countries, including the Netherlands and Australia, home to many of the 298 victims of Flight MH17, which was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was shot down.


Read more: Asia-pacific - Victims’ families mark MH17 crash anniversary - France 24

Ukraine: Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 295 people shot down with missile launched from Russian made Buk launcher.near Ukrainee-Russia border

U.S. officials have confirmed to several media outlets that the Malaysia Airlines passenger plane that crashed near the Ukraine-Russia border Thursday was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

The origin of the missile remained unclear and both government officials and pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied responsibility.

The number of fatalities in the crash was not immediately clear.

There were 295 people on board, 280 passengers and 15 crew members. Ukrainian authorities told U.S. Embassy officials that everyone on the plane was "believed dead" and that the aircraft debris was scatted over a 10-mile swath of land, ABC News reported.

Malaysia Airlines released a partial list, published by the Washington Post, of the nationalities for 233 of the plane's 280 passengers: 154 Dutch, 27 Australian, 23 Malaysian, 11 Indonesian, 6 British, 4 German, 4 Belgian, 3 Filipino and one Canadian. The airline said it did not yet know the nationalities of the remaining passengers yet. 

Every member of the 15-person crew was Malaysian, the airline said.

An aide to Ukraine's interior minister quoted by Interfax said the total number of dead in the crash was more than 300 and included 23 U.S. citizens.

Read more: Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 295 people shot down in missile strike near Ukraine-Russia border: U.S. official - Yahoo News

Malaysia: Jet’s disappearance was deliberate - by Ian Mader And Eileen Ng

The Malaysian jetliner missing for more than a week was deliberately diverted and continued flying for more than six hours after severing contact with the ground, meaning it could have gone as far northwest as Kazakhstan or into the Indian Ocean’s southern reaches, Malaysia’s leader said Saturday.

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s statement confirmed days of mounting speculation that the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 to Beijing was not accidental. It also refocused the investigation into the flight’s 12-person crew and 227 passengers, and underlined the complicated task for searchers who already have been scouring vast areas of ocean.

“Clearly the search for MH370 has entered a new phase,” Mr. Najib said at a televised news conference.

Mr. Najib stressed that investigators were looking into all possibilities as to why the Boeing 777 deviated so drastically from its original flight path, saying authorities could not confirm whether it was a hijacking. Earlier Saturday, a Malaysian official said the plane had been hijacked, though he added that no motive had been established and no demands had been made known.

“In view of this latest development, the Malaysian authorities have refocused their investigation into the crew and passengers on board,” Mr. Najib told reporters, reading from a written statement but not taking any questions.

Police on Saturday went to the Kuala Lumpur homes of both the pilot and co-pilot of the missing plane, according to a guard and several local reporters. Authorities have said they will investigate the pilots as part of their probe, but have released no information about how they are progressing.

Experts have previously said that whoever disabled the plane’s communication systems and then flew the jet must have had a high degree of technical knowledge and flying experience. One possibility they have raised was that one of the pilots wanted to commit suicide.

The plane departed for an overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing at 12:40 a.m. on March 8. Its communications with civilian air controllers were severed at about 1:20 a.m., and the jet went missing — heralding one of the most puzzling mysteries in modern aviation history.

Read more: Jet’s disappearance was deliberate, Malaysia says - The Globe and Mail

Airport Security: Malaysia airport security spotlighted over missing plane

Revelations that at least two people used stolen passports to board a missing passenger jet raise serious "red flags" about security at Malaysia's main international airport, analysts and Interpol have warned.

However, they cautioned against a rush to judgement, citing ongoing investigations and widespread disregard of international databases on stolen passports.

Flight MH370 disappeared over the waters between Malaysia and southern Vietnam early Saturday en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. No traces of the plane have been confirmed found.

Malaysia has said it is looking at a possible terror motive in the plane's disappearance after at least two people used stolen passports to pass security at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

"It's rather surprising but it obviously raises a red flag," said Chris de Lavigne, an aviation and defence analyst for consultancy Frost and Sullivan.

"We can't look into this too much until further information is available, but it's definitely a red flag," he told AFP.

Read more: Malaysia airport security spotlighted over missing plane - Channel NewsAsia

Healthcare Systems: Malaysia's healthcare system hailed - by G.Surach

The country’s achievement at being rated third best in the world for healthcare services is something to be proud of, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

He also gave credit to the boom in the country’s medical tourism sector through strategic investments on good medical facilities and competitive rates compared to other parts of the world.

“Medical tourism has benefited the Government in terms of foreign direct investments and also spin-off effects in the hotel and shopping sectors,” he said yesterday.

The Star Online reported yesterday that a study by the American publication International Living rated Malaysia’s healthcare system as the third best out of 24 countries in its 2014 Global Retirement Index, beating Spain, Italy, Ireland and New Zealand, among other countries.

 Read more: Malaysia's healthcare system hailed - Nation | The Star Online

Spain and France bust people-smuggling ring

Scores of people have been arrested in Spain and France in a crackdown on a gang smuggling Chinese nationals into Europe and the United States.

Spanish police said on Saturday that 51 people had been arrested in Spain, with another 24 arrests were reported in France, following a two-year joint investigation.

The bosses of the operation were arrested in Barcelona.

The Spanish interior ministry said the gang charged up to $66,700 to transport mainly Chinese and Malaysian nationals to the US, Britain, Spain, France, Greece, Italy and Turkey. Some of the people trafficked ended up in the sex trade, the ministry said.

The gang's main European hub was Barcelona airport. It allegedly used the city as a stopping-off point for Chinese while false documents were prepared.

A total of 81 false passports from South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Japan were recovered in raids, as well as fake immigration stamps, Chinese and European currencies, and weapons including a handgun.

Read more: Spain and France bust people-smuggling ring - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Global Shipping Industry: Major ports ramping up capacities - by Sharidan M.Ali

The Straits of Malacca is undeniably critical to the shipping industry and major ports along the 500-mile waterway are currently competing stiffly, ramping up their capacities this year, riding on the hope of world economic recovery.

Malaysian ports have been producing quite a good set of financial results even during challenging economic environment a few years ago.

It is thus interesting to look at the plans these terminals have for expansion and competition as there will be a huge amount of capacity coming onstream from this year onwards. All that will change the dynamics of these ports.

The container handling performance by Malaysian ports showed a growth 2.82% or an increase of 569,252 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last year to a total 20.8 million TEUs.

The ports contributed a total trade of nearly a trillion ringgit annually for the nation. Basically, there are two types of boxes handled at Malaysian ports local containers from the hinterland and transhipment containers which are cargo from outside the country that use the terminals as a distribution hub.

Read more: Major ports ramping up capacities

Aircraft Industry: Apple iPad debuts on Airbus A380

Airbus A380

Malaysia Airlines cabin crew today began using iPads to enhance inflight services to customers travelling on the airline’s A380 flights. The iPads are part of Sita’s innovative digital cabin crew solution, CrewTablet, which will enable crew members to quickly and easily access passenger and operational data.

Crew members of Malaysia Airlines will trial the new solution—which the airline has branded MHcrew—for six months. MHcrew is much more efficient than traditional paper-based processes, enabling accurate, timely and superior service delivery to passengers. “Passengers spend more time with our cabin crew than other employees.

As key front-liners, we rely on our cabin crew to provide an outstanding guest experience to passengers. The MHCrew solution will help our crew by providing lots of information at their fingertips so they can be more responsive to our guests,” said Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, Group CEO, Malaysia Airlines.

“Use of tablets is exploding worldwide and at Sita, we recognise that these new mobile devices offer airlines and airports a new way of working. But introducing this new technology in a secure way and integrating it into existing processes demands time, resources and specific skills that many IT departments cannot allocate,” said Francesco Violante, CEO, Sita.

Read more: Apple iPad debuts on Airbus A380 - Emirates 24/7

McDonald’s in China, recycled cooking oil in Malaysia - by TAY TIAN YAN

 McDonald's restaurant in Sanlitun, Beijing was earlier uncovered to have sold expired fries, cheese and pies.  The news shocked the whole China, as well as the world. And McDonald's faced a crisis.

Strangely, the business of McDonald's restaurants in China was not affected. Instead, many Chinese who seldom ate McDonald's food in the past have turned into McDonald's fans.

The report appeared on the TV news report at 8.30pm. At 9.20pm, Beijing Health Inspection officials arrived at the restaurant to carry out an on-site inspection, which later proved that the restaurant had indeed violated the company's rule, but not the food safety regulations.

Within an hour, the McDonald's headquarters apologized and ordered the outlet to temporarily suspend its business for rectification. Other outlets were also warned to strictly comply with the requirements and regulations while the public, media and government departments are welcomed to supervise the operation of the fast food company's outlets.

For more: McDonald’s in China, recycled cooking oil in Malaysia | My Sinchew

Yahoo Malaysia: M'SIA WELL POSITIONED TO PROVIDE ISLAMIC BANKING SERVICES IN EUROPE - by Premalatha Jayaraman

For the complete report from Yahoo Malaysia click on this link

Malaysia, recognized internationally for its vast experience in Islamic finance, is well positioned to provide services and facilities related to Islamic banking in Europe. "This is a potential area that we have yet to develop with Europe. We need to move away from the thinking that Islamic banking must only be in the Middle East or among Arab, Muslim countries," said Malaysia's ambassador to Brussels, Datuk Hussein Hanif.