Malaysia 'using satellite to fight illegal logging'

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysia is zooming in on forests with a satellite in order to fight illegal logging which its government says is harming the major timber exporting country, a report said Sunday.

Darus Ahmad, deputy director-general with the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency, said the "eye in the sky" programme was put in place in October.

"There is always criticisms that our forests are diminishing," he was quoted as saying by the New Sunday Times newspaper.

Darus said that using satellite images the authorities can establish a national forest inventory of the country's total area of forest cover.

They can then check whether logging in a particular area is legal or not, he said, adding that the facility was currently available in the western peninsular part of Malaysia only.

Darus also said the system can be used to prevent air pollution by detecting forest fires and illegal land clearing.

In the 1990s alone, Malaysia lost more than 13 percent of its forests, with much of the deforestation on the island of Borneo, which it shares with Indonesia and Brunei.

The World Wildlife Fund at the time estimated that illegally logged trees made up about one third of Malaysia's timber exports.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last year pledged not to indiscriminately approve logging licences, amid mounting concern that clearances are threatening endangered species and tribal communities.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who also heads the National Forestry Council, later warned that illegal logging could undermine Malaysia.

"It can jeopardise our efforts to preserve biodiversity, flora and fauna and have an impact on global warming. At the international level, illegal logging portrays a negative image of our country," he said.

"It can harm our national economy as the timber industry produces 23 billion ringgit (6.8 billion dollars) worth of wood-based products a year," he added.

The European Union market accounts for about 30 percent of Malaysia's annual timber exports.

Indonesia runs tsunami practice drills

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Marta Karouw was one of about 2,000 Indonesians who gathered in the city of Manado, on the northern tip of Indonesia's Sulawesi island, Saturday morning to practice and prepare for the unthinkable -- a huge tsunami.

The drill comes one day after the fourth anniversary of the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami that smashed coastal villages in parts of Asia on December 26, 2004, killing about 230,000 people.

Indonesia's archipelago, in an area of intense seismic activity, is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and the risk of another tsunami just like the one in 2004.

Much of Aceh province on the northwestern tip of Sumatra, was devastated by the 2004 tsunami. About 170,000 people died or went missing, and the area is still struggling to recover.

Since then, Indonesia's government has taken measures to improve readiness for such disasters. It has installed an expensive warning system, and staged periodic evacuation drills.

Against odds, Germans warm to Cruise in Nazi film

BERLIN (Reuters) – Tom Cruise has defied expectations and won favorable reviews from German critics for his portrayal of a Prussian army officer who tried to assassinate Hitler in 1944 in the Hollywood film "Valkyrie."

German reviewers who were initially highly suspicious have warmed to the film, describing it as a serious work, and Cruise has overcome unease about his suitability for the role.

"'Valkyrie' is neither scandalously bad nor the event of the century. Neither is it the action thriller we feared, but it is a well-made and serious film," said public broadcaster ZDF.

"Cruise plays his part decisively, coolly -- a solid performance, though he won't have a sniff at an Oscar."

The Hollywood actor plays Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg, who planted a briefcase bomb under a table at Hitler's military headquarters in eastern Prussia on July 20, 1944. The heavy wooden table saved Hitler, who suffered only minor injuries.

Stauffenberg was executed the same night with his co-conspirators and his legacy helps ease the burden of guilt about World War Two and the Holocaust Germans still endure.

Killer Australian shark will not be hunted: police

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian authorities said Sunday they will not attempt to hunt down a shark believed to have killed a swimmer, as reports said the victim would not have wanted the predator to die.

Police suspect that avid diver and fisherman Brian Guest, 51, was taken by a shark as he was snorkelling with his son near Rockingham, south of Perth on Australia's west coast, on Saturday.

Witnesses saw flashes of fins and blood in the water and nothing has been found of Guest except some shreds believed to have come from his wetsuit.

Fremantle Water Police, who were Sunday searching the area for any remains, said there would be no attempt to hunt the shark.

"There's no way of knowing which shark it would be," Senior Sergeant Greg Trew said. "We could hunt down every shark from here to eternity without knowing whether we had the right one."

Reports said that Guest had a deep respect for the ocean and its hazards and would not have wanted the animal killed.

"I have always had an understanding with my wife that if a shark or ocean accident caused my death then so be it," he wrote on a fishing website forum in 2004, national news agency AAP said.

The sentiment was echoed by an unnamed family friend who was quoted as telling Western Australia's Sunday Times that Guest was aware that those using the ocean were "in their (sharks') territory".

"He was a man of the sea. We are just glad he went on the ocean. It was his passion," the friend said.

Leading shark researcher Rory McAuley said despite the idea perpetuated by Hollywood movies such as "Jaws" that sharks would repeatedly attack, this view was not held up by science.

"The old theory of the rogue shark that gets a taste for humans and repeatedly attacks has really been discredited over the past 30 years," said McAuley, a senior research scientist with the state Department of Fisheries.

Gaza: Why Israel and Hamas are trading rocket fire

Sderot, Israel – On the second day of intense Israeli airstrikes that set off street protests throughout the Middle East, Hamas responded Sunday by extending the range of its rocket attacks on southern Israeli cities.

The ferocity and precision of the Israeli blitz sent the Palestinian death toll to nearly 300, surprising the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, and sowing panic. Egyptian border police fired on Palestinians fleeing across Gaza's western border Sunday. Meanwhile, Israeli troops and tanks massed on Gaza's eastern and northern borders.

But Israel is mindful of the lessons from its war with Hezbollah in Lebanon two years ago, say analysts, and isn't likely to send in ground troops to topple Hamas.

Rather than reoccupy Gaza, a politically unpopular move, Israel may want to simply redefine the terms of engagement along the southern frontier and reach a new cease- fire. "[Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert has been chastened by the Lebanon experience," says Michael Oren, a fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem who authored a book on the 1967 war. "He talked about toppling Hezbollah and disarming Hezbollah. There are far more modest objectives for this operation – an improved status quo ante."

Natural Disaster

BERLIN (AFP) – Natural disasters killed over 220,000 people in 2008, making it one of the most devastating years on record and underlining the need for a global climate deal, the world's number two reinsurer said Monday.

Although the number of natural disasters was lower than in 2007, the catastrophes that occurred proved to be more destructive in terms of the number of victims and the financial cost of the damage caused, Germany-based Munich Re said in its annual assessment.

"This continues the long-term trend we have been observing. Climate change has already started and is very probably contributing to increasingly frequent weather extremes and ensuing natural catastrophes," Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek said.

Most devastating in terms of human fatalities was Cyclone Nargis, which lashed Myanmar on May 2-3 to kill more than 135,000 people and leave more than one million homeless.

Just days later an earthquake shook China's Sichuan province, leaving 70,000 dead, 18,000 missing and almost five million homeless, according to official figures, Munich Re said.

Howard, Bryant a top latest All-Star Voting Results

By Official Release
Posted Dec 25 2008 5:53PM

NEW YORK -- Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers lead the Eastern Conference, while Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets top the Western Conference after the second returns of 2009 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile. Howard, the reigning Sprite Slam Dunk champion, is the overall leader with 1,421,882 votes.

The 58th NBA All-Star Game will be played in Phoenix on Sunday, Feb. 15. The game will air live (8pm ET) on TNT, ESPN Radio and in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Phoenix also hosted the All-Star Game in 1975 and 1995.

James, the 2008 NBA All-Star Game MVP, paces all Eastern Conference forwards with 1,259,764 votes, followed by Boston's Kevin Garnett (905,506), the leading vote-recipient in 2008. Miami's Dwyane Wade, the NBA's leading scorer, leads all Eastern Conference guards with 1,229,858 votes, followed by Detroit's Allen Iverson (858,469). Philadelphia's Samuel Dalembert (232,733) is running second to Howard at the center position.