Tradisional Sabah Borneo

GEORGE TOWN, July 30 — Police are on a manhunt for several assailants who had opened fire at them during a high-speed chase on the Seberang Perai highway on Thursday night.

Police had earlier received a tip-off over a suspicious Honda City in Kampung Acheh. But as policemen approached the vehicle at about10.30pm but the driver sped away. 

Two patrol cars tailed the Honda City for about half an hour but as the vehicles approached the Jawi Toll Plaza, a suspect in the rear passenger seat fired several shots at one of the patrol car.

Police then fired two shots at the Honda City but the driver did not slow down.

Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Ghafar Rajab said the suspects escaped at the Juru Toll Plaza.“Fortunately, the shots fired by the suspects did not hit any other vehicles on the highway,” he said.

“We traced the vehicle registration number but it turned out to be incomplete.”

He also said police were unsure how many suspects were inside the car and closed-circuit television footage at both toll plazas did not provide much information.

The case is being investigated for attempted murder. MALAY MAIL ONLINE

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gave communist guerrillas until Saturday to match his truce declaration or he would withdraw it following a rebel attack that killed a government militiaman.

The new president brought fresh hopes of resuming peace talks with the Maoist insurgents, which stalled under his predecessor. The decadeslong insurgency, one of Asia's longest, has left about 150,000 combatants and civilians dead since the late 1960s. It has stunted economic development, especially in the countryside, where the insurgents raid security forces' outposts and mining and agricultural companies.

Duterte said he would scuttle his cease-fire order, which he issued Monday, if the New People's Army guerrillas did not match with their own by 5 p.m. Saturday.

He initially threatened to withdraw the cease-fire by Friday but extended his deadline after the rebels said they were investigating the guerrilla attack.

"Are you ready to declare a ceasefire or not?" Duterte asked during a news briefing, visibly upset after visiting the militiaman's wake in southern Davao del Norte province. The militiaman was killed in a rebel ambush Wednesday that also wounded four others.

"If I don't get the word from you, then I will lift the order of cease-fire," he said, adding that he was rejecting rebel demands for him to withdraw government troops and police from certain rural areas.

Rebel leaders have asked Duterte to give them more time to study his truce declaration.

Duterte made friendly overtures to the guerrillas, then became more critical after the ambush."How many Filipinos have died and who killed them? Fellow Filipinos," he said. "The problem with you (is) you carry the element of hate."

It's unclear if the emerging differences between Duterte, who was sworn in on June 30, and the insurgents could affect a resumption of peace talks from Aug. 20 to 27 in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.AFP

France is bracing for its annual Black Saturday, when millions of people return from their July holidays and millions of others take to the roads, rails and skies for their August break.

The annual event is more charmingly referred to as the big "chasse-croise" of the summer, a phrase derived from a dance pattern.

"It would be nuts to get into a car tomorrow," said Paris restaurateur Albert Aidan. "Ever since I was a kid I can remember people talking about the chasse-croise."

Like clockwork, the motorways fill up in both directions in what seems like self-imposed misery for both "juilletistes" -- July vacationers -- and their August counterparts, the "aoutiens"."Everyone knows it but they do it anyway," said Aidan, 57, while noting that many have no choice because they rent their holiday homes by the week, with contracts typically beginning and ending on a Saturday.

Railway stations and airports offer their own dizzying versions of chasse-croise, the tanned July people hoping to maintain the zen they nurtured on holiday while frazzled August people are eager for a smooth start to their vacation.

They are lucky if they are not booked on Air France, however, since the airline's flight attendants have selected this weekend as the lynchpin of a week-long strike that began Wednesday, with one in five flights cancelled.

Air France-KLM boss Jean-Marc Janaillac is fuming, telling Le Figaro newspaper: "This strike is extremely regrettable and aggressive."

The chasse-croise weekend is a key revenue generator for the airline, which normally carries 300,000 passengers over the two days, he said.

Moreover, it is also "very important... symbolically for our customers' family holidays."

But union leaders were unmoved on Thursday, smirking in a joint statement: "We know that as the days go by the effects of the strike will grow."

Sociologist Jean Viard, an expert on the use of leisure time, said that even though fewer people now take the entire month of July or August off, the phenomenon persists because of its history.France became the first country in the world to enshrine paid vacation into law in 1936, under the leadership of Socialist premier Leon Blum -- a name that holidaymakers continue to salute to this day.

- 'Being a part of it all' -

At first, factories shut down for the first half of August, so that was the only time workers could take off, said Viard, research director at Paris's Sciences Po university.

"As a result, people developed the cultural habit of taking at least the first two weeks of August off," he said.

Over the decades, weeks have been added one by one, and today the French have five weeks of guaranteed paid holiday, which many companies have supplemented with another three weeks off since the 35-hour work week was introduced in 2000.

Over time, holidaymakers divided into the July and August camps, creating the chasse-croise phenomenon.

But Black Saturday is not as annoying as it may appear, Viard said.

"It may seem a bit absurd... but being on the road there's a feeling of being a part of it all, thinking 'they're talking about us on the radio'."

The tailbacks are never more than two hours, he said, adding: "People like the challenge of taking back roads to avoid traffic jams."

Friday's Le Parisien daily, which devoted two pages to tips on how to avo avoid tailbacks, includes a sidebar with all the new apps for tech-savvy drivers.

The latest attack, which was disclosed to Reuters on Friday, follows two other hacks on the Democratic National Committee, or DNC, and the party’s fundraising committee for candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives.

A Clinton campaign spokesman said in a statement late on Friday that an analytics data program maintained by the DNC and used by the campaign and a number of other entities "was accessed as part of the DNC hack."

"Our campaign computer system has been under review by outside cyber security experts. To date, they have found no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised," said Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill.Later, a campaign official said hackers had access to the analytics program's server for approximately five days. The analytics data program is one of many systems the campaign accesses to conduct voter analysis, and does not include social security numbers or credit card numbers, the official said.

The U.S. Department of Justice national security division is investigating whether cyber attacks on Democratic political organizations threatened U.S. security, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The involvement of the Justice Department’s national security division is a sign that the Obama administration has concluded that the hacking was sponsored by a state, people with knowledge of the investigation said.While it is unclear exactly what material the hackers may have gained access to, the third such attack on sensitive Democratic targets disclosed in the last six weeks has caused alarm in the party and beyond, just over three months before the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election.

Hackers, whom U.S. intelligence officials have concluded were Russian, gained access to the entire network of the fundraising Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, said people familiar with the matter, detailing the extent of the breach to Reuters for the first time.

Cyber security experts and U.S. officials said earlier this week they had concluded, based on analysis of malware and other aspects of the DNC hack, that Russia engineered the release of hacked Democratic Party emails to influence the U.S. presidential election.The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Friday it was "aware of media reporting on cyber intrusions involving multiple political entities, and is working to determine the accuracy, nature and scope of these matters."

"The FBI takes seriously any allegations of intrusions, and we will continue to hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace," the agency said in an emailed statement.

The hack did not involve the private email system Clinton used while she was secretary of state.

RUSSIAN HACKERSThe new disclosure to Reuters that hackers gained access to the full DCCC network means they would have had access to everything on the network from emails to strategy memos and opposition research prepared to support Democratic candidates in campaigns for the House.

The hack of the DCCC, which is based in Washington, was reported first by Reuters on Thursday, ahead of Clinton’s speech in Philadelphia accepting the Democratic party’s nomination.

Russian officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Several U.S. officials said the Obama administration has avoided publicly attributing the attacks to Russia as that might undermine Secretary of State John Kerry’s effort to win Russian cooperation in the war on Islamic State in Syria.The officials said the administration fears Russian President Vladimir Putin might respond to a public move by escalating cyber attacks on U.S. targets, increasing military harassment of U.S. and allied aircraft and warships in the Baltic and Black Seas, and making more aggressive moves in Eastern Europe.

Some officials question the approach, arguing that responding more forcefully to Russia would be more effective than remaining silent. REUTERS

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump traded insults at opposite ends of the country, taking their fight for the White House to rival battleground states and portraying starkly different visions of America.

One of the most divisive US campaigns in modern history is entering a new chapter with Republicans and Democrats having selected their nominees, leaving the candidates slogging it out before election day on November 8.

Clinton followed her historic acceptance speech on Thursday as the first woman presidential nominee for a major party with a rally in Philadelphia before embarking on a bus tour of Rust Belt states Pennsylvania and Ohio.

In Colorado, a key western state, her Republican opponent promised "no more Mr Nice migration of Syrian refugees.

"I'm starting to agree with you," the 70-year-old told supporters chanting "lock her up, lock her up" in Colorado Springs. "I'm taking the gloves off," he said. "Just remember this Trump is going to be no more Mr Nice Guy."

Just over 100 days before the election, Americans are being asked to choose between two sharply polarized visions -- and between two monumentally unpopular candidates.

"I can't think of an election that is more important, certainly in my lifetime," Clinton told supporters at the rally in Philadelphia.The 68-year-old Democrat portrays Trump as a threat to democracy, and is seeking to both woo moderate Republicans repelled by the former reality TV star and shore up a coalition with progressives on the left of her party.

- 'Peachy keen' -

"Donald Trump painted a picture, a negative, dark, divisive picture of a country in decline," she said.

"I'm not telling you that everything is peachy keen -- I'm telling you we've made progress, but we have work to do."

She promises to focus on parts of the country that have been "left out and left behind" -- constituencies where declining living standards, fears about safety and lost jobs have fueled support for Trump.Trump, who has never previously held office, portrays himself as the law and order candidate -- the outsider who will shake up an out-of-touch Washington, restore jobs, cut the deficit and end illegal immigration.

"This country, if they choose her, this country will not be in good shape," Trump told ABC News on Friday.

"She doesn't know how to win, she's not a winner," he said in an excerpt of the interview set to air Sunday.

In Colorado, Trump goaded Clinton on her failure to hold a news conference since December and accused her of lying to the FBI over its investigation of her email scandal as secretary of state."We're going to stop the Syrian migrants from coming into the United States," he said referring to the killing of a French priest, whose attackers proclaimed allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group.

Trump's campaign released a new ad Friday claiming that in Clinton's America "things get worse" with taxes going up, terrorism spreading and voters losing jobs, homes and hope.

"Change that makes America great again," the video promised.

- Negative partisanship -Clinton needs to win over some of the disgruntled working class voters that form the backbone of Trump's base. She has blasted Trump for making so many of his products overseas, and for alienating women, Hispanics and Muslims.

Clinton -- accompanied by her husband Bill, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and his wife Anne Holton -- is on a campaign tour of so-called Rust Belt states, vital parts of almost any strategy to garner the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidency.

The candidate and her team were moving in Pennsylvania in a convoy of more than two dozen vehicles, including two large buses with the campaign slogan "Stronger Together" emblazoned on the side in giant letters.

Clinton stopped at a toy factory in the town of Hatfield, underlining the priority that she would give to manufacturing jobs. Then the convoy proceeded to an afternoon outdoor rally in the town of Harrisburg.Experts predict that "negative partisanship" -- voting against a candidate -- will play a major role in deciding who makes it to the White House.

Clinton's unpopularity is second only to Trump's, with a disapproval rating of 55 percent compared to his 57 percent, according to recent averages.

Ratings from Nielsen showed that 2.2 million more people had tuned into watch Trump's acceptance speech last week than Clinton's on Thursday.

When it comes to voter intentions, Trump and Clinton are in a statistical dead heat, according to the most recent poll average from RealClearPolitics.  AFP

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian judge has accepted charges against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for allegedly obstructing a corruption investigation involving state-run oil giant Petrobras, clearing the way for one of the country's best-known political figures to stand trial.

The decision published on Friday names Silva and five others as co-conspirators in an alleged attempt to buy the silence of a former Petrobras director implicated in the scandal. A date for the trial has not yet been set.

The obstruction-of-justice accusation against Silva comes from a plea bargain testimony by former Sen. Delcidio do Amaral, who was stripped of his seat by his peers and will also stand trial.On Thursday, Silva's lawyers filed a petition at the U.N. Human Rights Committee alleging a lack of impartiality and abuse of power by another judge investigating the Petrobras scandal.

Silva, who is universally known in Brazil as Lula, denied any wrongdoing. "It is up to the prosecutors and federal police to prove what they say," he said.

His supporters say the latest decision by federal judge Ricardo Leite is retaliation for lodging the petition with the U.N. committee.

It is the first time that the former president Swill stand trial for charges related to the Petrobras scandal. He is also accused by Sao Paulo state prosecutors of money laundering and criminal misrepresentation in connection with an alleged real estate scheme that benefited him and his family.Silva governed from 2003 to 2010. Despite a votes-for-bribes scandal that took down his chief of staff, he left office with record high popularity levels and his hand-picked successor, Rousseff, handily won the presidency. But his popularity has since been battered by corruption allegations and an economic downturn that undermined his successor. AP

One of the jihadists who murdered an elderly French priest smiled as he carried out the attack, and nuns who witnessed the grisly murder said the killers spoke about the Koran.

The two nuns who were in the church when Father Jacques Hamel was killed, his throat slit on the altar, said the men appeared aggressive and nervous during the attack at the Eglise Saint-Etienne in Normandy on July 26.

Then, one of the attackers seemed pleased.

"I got a smile from the second (man). Not a smile of triumph, but a soft smile, that of someone who is happy," nun Sister Huguette Peron told Catholic newspaper La Vie on Friday.Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, both 19, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and both were killed by police in the shock attack.

The men stormed the 17th-century stone church during mass in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, taking several hostages before killing the priest and seriously wounding another captive.

One nun fled the scene and alerted the police, leaving Sister Huguette and Sister Helene Decaux, both in their 80s, in the church with the jihadists.

At one point, Sister Helene got tired and asked to sit down.

"I asked for my cane, he gave it to me," she said.

Then the men started talking about religion, asking the nun if she was familiar with the Koran.

"Yes, I respect it like I respect the Bible, I've read several suras. And those that hit me in particular are the suras about peace," Sister Helene responded.

One of the attackers replied: "Peace, it's what we want... as long as there are bombs on Syria, we will continue our attacks. And they will happen every day. When you stop, we will stop."

Neighbours and acquaintances said Kermiche was "obsessed" with going to Syria, where an international coalition including France is carrying out air strikes against the IS jihadist group.

"Are you afraid to die?" one of the attackers asked.The nun said no, then he said: "Why?"

"I believe in God, and I know I will be happy" Sister Helene said, as she quietly prayed to herself.

Then they started talking about God.

"Jesus cannot be God and a man. It is you who are wrong," one of the men said.

"Maybe, but too bad," Sister Huguette replied.

At that moment, she prepared for her own death, not knowing what was coming next.

"Thinking I was going to die, I offered my life to God" she added.  AFP

The assassins left the car riddled with bullet holes and its occupant, a 43-year-old man, dead.

Police believe that the murder could be related to underworld activities.

The horror unfolded around 3.30pm when the victim was driving his Honda Accord along the busy road.

Unknown to him, two motorcycles with four men had pulled up behind his car, which had stopped at the traffic lights.

The pillion riders, with their helmets still on, got off the motorcycles and skirted towards the Accord. One ran to the driver’s side and fired off several shots in the direction of the driver.A man was killed when two gunmen opened fire on his car near Setapak Central this evening. Reader courtesy photo

The gunman’s accomplice meanwhile, took position at the front passenger window and unloaded his firearm towards the driver.

The gunman on the driver’s side fired three to four shots, while his accomplice let off a dozen bullets.

Stunned motorists and pedestrians could only watch in horror as the gunmen executed their victim in cold blood and fled on the waiting motorcycles.

Police have declined to reveal the man’s identity, saying only that he was known as ‘Kana’. It is understood that the father of three hailed from Taman Melawati, Wangsa Maju.

City Criminal Investigation Department senior assistant commissioner Rusdi Mohd Isa said initial investigations showed that the victim was a money-lender.

They have yet to establish a motive for the killing. The theories now range from business-related issues to revenge.

“We are looking at all possibilities, including that it is gang-related,” he told reporters at the scene today.

NEW  STREET TIMES

Terror struck the city today when two gunmen opened fire upon a car at a traffic light along Jalan Genting Klang, near Setapak Central. Bernama Photo

Rusdi said the victim did not have a criminal record, but had a prior arrest in 2014.

“Four of the bullets struck him in the right arm. Ten bullets pierced his body. He was also shot in the head and thigh,” he said.

The incident was captured on CCTV from a nearby building. The video, which was leaked and widely shared on social media, captured the incident in its entirety.He said the victim’s family were informed of the incident and came to the scene to identify him.

Terror struck the city today when two gunmen opened fire upon a car at a traffic light along Jalan Genting Klang, near Setapak Central. Reader courtesy photo

The victim’s remains have been brought to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Police are now appealing to witnesses to come forward and shed light on the incident.

© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd

MIAMI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump on Wednesday invited Russia to dig up tens of thousands of "missing" emails from Hillary Clinton's time at the U.S. State Department, vexing intelligence experts and prompting Democrats to accuse him of urging foreigners to spy on Americans.

"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, told reporters.

Trump made the remark at a testy news conference at his Doral golf resort in Florida that allowed him to steal some of the limelight from the Philadelphia convention where Clinton on Thursday will accept the Democratic presidential nomination for the Nov. 8 election.

The Clinton campaign shot back that Trump was posing a possible national securitby encouraging a foreign power to conduct espionage in the United States. Some intelligence experts said the comments raised questions about Trump's judgment.

A spokesman for Trump, Jason Miller, tried to tamp down the storm of protest, saying Trump did not urge Russia to hack Clinton's emails.

Trump said on Twitter that if anyone had Clinton's emails, "perhaps they should share them with the FBI!"

The criticism of Trump's comments reverberated at the Democratic National Convention where speakers brought up the episode to try to intensify Democratic support for Clinton, who is running neck and neck with Trump in the polls.

"Donald Trump today once again took Russia’s side. He asked the Russians to interfere American politics," longtime Clinton supporter and former CIA Director Leon Panetta said. "Donald Trump ... is asking one of our adversaries to engage in hacking or intelligence efforts against the United States of America to affect the election."

Another speaker, retired U.S. Rear Admiral John Hutson, said of Trump: "This morning, he personally invited Russia to hack us. That's not law and order, that's criminal intent."

'TOTAL DEFLECTION'

Trump was referring in his remarks to a private email system Clinton kept while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. She handed over thousands of emails in 2015 to U.S. officials probing that system, but did not release about 30,000 emails she said were personal and not work-related.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation probe of the issue found no basis for criminal charges, but FBI Director James Comey said this month there was evidence Clinton was "extremely careless" in her handling of classified information.

Trump dismissed suggestions that WikiLeaks' release of embarrassing Democratic Party emails last week was engineered by Russia to help nudge the U.S. election toward Trump, who has been called "very talented" by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"It's just a total deflection, this whole thing with Russia," said Trump. "I never met Putin. I don't know who Putin is."

The Democratic Party chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, resigned on Sunday after the leaked emails showed party leaders favoring Clinton over her rival, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, for the presidential nomination.Cyber security experts and U.S. officials have said there was evidence that Russia engineered the release of the sensitive party emails in order to influence the presidential election.

Throughout a day of campaigning, Trump suggested the culprit could be China or even, as he said in Scranton, Pennsylvania, "a 400-pound person lying in bed.”

'FOUR-LETTER WORDS'

Russia has brushed aside suggestions it was involved. "I don't want to use four-letter words," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday.

Trump has alarmed European allies and many U.S. national security experts with talk of forcing NATO nations to pay more for the U.S. security umbrella."By the way, if they don't pay, bye bye," he said in Toledo, Ohio, on Wednesday night.

He has praised Putin in the past and said this week that if elected, he would seek an alliance with Moscow to take on Islamic State militants.

But he sought to distance himself from Putin at his news conference, saying his closest interaction with Russia was selling a Florida home to a Russian for more than he paid for it.  REUTERS