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Replacing 6Cemerlang News, our brand new NEWS & INFO page has local and foreign news that will keep you up to date. News are compiled from The Star Online. Updated weekly...
LOCAL NEWS
SARAWAKIANS FLOCK TO BUY COOKING OIL AFTER RUMOUR
MIRI: There was panic buying of cooking oil in northern Sarawak Friday following rumours that the price of this essential commodity would increase by up to 50% on Saturday.
The cooking oil rush was seen in all supermarkets and retail outlets starting at 5pm Friday, just after office hours.
The rumour is believed to have been circulated via SMS on Friday.
Just two days ago, the rush for petrol and diesel fuel caused massive panic buying just hours before the hike on Wednesday night.
However, the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities warned that there has been no official approval for any price increase for 1kg, 3kg and 5kg of cooking oil.
''The Government has not approved any increase for these three categories. Whoever raises the prices would have committed an offence.
''The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) had not approved any increase. The price is controlled by the MPOB for these three categories,'' said minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah kui via his political secretary Sebastian Ting.
FOREIGN NEWS
CHINA READY TO EASE PRESSURE ON DANGEROUS QUAKE LAKE
CHENGDU (Reuters) - China readied on Friday to ease pressure on a swollen "quake lake" threatening hundreds of thousands of people downstream in the southwestern province of Sichuan as the water level quickly rises toward a man-made sluice.
Residents walk across a suspension bridge at a landslide-blocked river in Pingtong town of earthquake-hit Pingwu county, Sichuan Province June 4, 2008. (REUTERS/Jason Lee)
The Tangjiashan lake is the largest of the more than 30 quake lakes formed when the May 12 earthquake triggered landslides that blocked rivers, raising fears of a secondary disaster after the tremor that killed more than 69,000.
Water behind Tangjiashan's natural mud-and-rock dam rose to 739.52 metres (2,440 feet) above sea level at 0400 GMT, only 48 centimetres from the sluice, state television said, which meant partial discharge of floodwaters building up behind could occur within hours.
But the chance of the unstable dam collapsing was also increasing "under the continuous influences of aftershocks, rainfall and other uncertain factors", the official Xinhua news agency said.
"Quake lakes" burst weeks after two powerful earthquakes hit the same area in 1786 and 1933 respectively, both killing several times more people than those who died directly from the tremors, Xinhua said.
Underscoring the urgency, Premier Wen Jiabao visited the lake on Thursday, urging workers there to ensure there were no casualties and calling it a "critical moment" for Tangjiashan.
More than 250,000 people have been evacuated in quake-ravaged areas of Beichuan, Mianyang and Jiangyou, adding to the millions already displaced when their homes collapsed or were badly damaged in the earthquake.
Troops went door-to-door in some evacuated towns downstream on Thursday to ensure residents had moved to higher ground.
The more than 600 soldiers who opened the 475-metre long sluice have pulled back from Tangjiashan, but some planned to return on Friday to dig it deeper, state television said.
The lake also threatens a major fuel pipeline and gas operations owned by PetroChina and Sinopec.
An estimated 1,000 to 2,000 children have been orphaned by the quake, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Friday, adding parents who lost their offsprings to the disaster would be favoured for adoptions of these orphans.
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