Australian wins US$208k from Google for gang links
Posted: 12 November 2012 1256 hrs
SYDNEY: Google was ordered to pay AU$200,000 (US$208,000) in damages to an Australian man on Monday after a jury found the Internet giant defamed him by publishing material linking him to mobsters.
Milorad Trkulja, an entertainment promoter who is now 62, was shot in the back in 2004 in a crime that was never solved.
He accused Google of defaming him with material he said implied he was a major crime figure in Melbourne and had been the target of a professional hit.
Searches of his name brought up references to the city's gangsters including crime boss Tony Mokbel and a now defunct site called "Melbourne Crime" chronicling gang-related incidents.
Google denied publication in the Supreme Court of Victoria, saying it had innocently disseminated material published by others, and also disputed that the material conveyed the defamatory implications claimed by Trkulja.
But a jury ruled in his favour, finding the Internet firm had been on notice and failed to act on the issue from October 2009, when Trkulja's lawyers wrote to them demanding action over the "grossly defamatory" content.
Judge David Beach ordered Google to pay Trkulja AU$200,000, likening their role in publication to a library or newsagent, which have "sometimes been held to be publishers for the purposes of defamation law" in Australia.
"Google Inc is like the newsagent that sells a newspaper containing a defamatory article," Beach said in his judgement.
"While there might be no specific intention to publish defamatory material, there is a relevant intention by the newsagent to publish the newspaper for the purposes of the law of defamation."
Beach said the jury was "entitled to conclude that Google Inc intended to publish the material that its automated systems produced, because that was what they were designed to do upon a search request".
Trkulja, who argued that his reputation was central to his work and had been seriously damaged by the defamatory material, had already won AU$225,000 from Yahoo in an earlier case on the same matter.
- AFP/xq
- wong chee tat :)
Monday, November 12, 2012
S'pore needs to restructure economy to sustain growth: Tharman
S'pore needs to restructure economy to sustain growth: Tharman
Posted: 11 November 2012 2350 hrs
SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said Singapore's economic growth will be weak in the short-term mainly because of the gloomy world economy.
And the challenge for Singapore, he said, is to restructure its economy to ensure sustained growth over the long-term.
Mr Tharman, who's also Finance Minister, was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a community event in his Jurong GRC.
Many countries in the world are now bracing themselves for the possibility of a "fiscal cliff" in the US.
This means a huge economic crisis may be looming for the US - if its deeply divided Congress is not able to come to an agreement.
Congress, which is made up of the House of Representatives and Senate, will still be controlled by two parties in the new Obama administration.
The Republicans regained control of the House, while the Senate is dominated by the Democrats.
Mr Tharman pointed out that even if the US gets past this hurdle, the bigger challenge is to put its mid-term budget on a more sustainable path for the years ahead in order to restore investor confidence.
He said: "That's what's necessary to really get the economy to restart. And it requires common ground to be found on both taxes and spending on the parts of the Democrats and the Republicans.
"The experience of the first term was one of intense partisanship. Hopefully in the second term, there will be a willingness to find common ground. The initial signs are positive but it's too early to say."
The effects of sluggish growth in the US and Eurozone are likely to cascade to Singapore, even though Mr Tharman said Asia continues to do reasonably well.
"Demand will be weak, but our real challenge in Singapore is in restructuring our economy. We've got to persevere in restructuring our economy so that we can get sustained growth over the long term, over the next five to 10 years based on productivity growth. That's the big challenge. Demand will be weak in the short term but it's not a fundamental problem for us because our unemployment rate is low, and that's the bottom line of the short-term. Unemployment rate is low, jobs are available and training places are available. Our real challenge therefore is to focus on restructuring our economy so that we can move one whole level higher - productivity, skills, expertise," Mr Tharman shared.
He said this means using management methods and technology to improve efficiency and productivity so that workers can get paid more.
"They can have more satisfying jobs and we can grow our economy without growing employment year after year, especially foreign employment. So we got to find the right balance. It's something that affects every sector of the economy. And, we look at the most developed countries and we can see how it's done. They too went through that transition. In some cases not very long ago, they went through the same transition. They ramp up on labour and they have to upgrade, do with less labour, but using technology and everyone playing that part, including customers, everyone playing that part. You can move up to a higher level. That way, our workers can get good wages, get good jobs," he said.
Mr Tharman added that the government will provide every form of support to help companies, especially small and medium enterprises, to make this transition.
- CNA/ck
- wong chee tat :)
Posted: 11 November 2012 2350 hrs
SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said Singapore's economic growth will be weak in the short-term mainly because of the gloomy world economy.
And the challenge for Singapore, he said, is to restructure its economy to ensure sustained growth over the long-term.
Mr Tharman, who's also Finance Minister, was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a community event in his Jurong GRC.
Many countries in the world are now bracing themselves for the possibility of a "fiscal cliff" in the US.
This means a huge economic crisis may be looming for the US - if its deeply divided Congress is not able to come to an agreement.
Congress, which is made up of the House of Representatives and Senate, will still be controlled by two parties in the new Obama administration.
The Republicans regained control of the House, while the Senate is dominated by the Democrats.
Mr Tharman pointed out that even if the US gets past this hurdle, the bigger challenge is to put its mid-term budget on a more sustainable path for the years ahead in order to restore investor confidence.
He said: "That's what's necessary to really get the economy to restart. And it requires common ground to be found on both taxes and spending on the parts of the Democrats and the Republicans.
"The experience of the first term was one of intense partisanship. Hopefully in the second term, there will be a willingness to find common ground. The initial signs are positive but it's too early to say."
The effects of sluggish growth in the US and Eurozone are likely to cascade to Singapore, even though Mr Tharman said Asia continues to do reasonably well.
"Demand will be weak, but our real challenge in Singapore is in restructuring our economy. We've got to persevere in restructuring our economy so that we can get sustained growth over the long term, over the next five to 10 years based on productivity growth. That's the big challenge. Demand will be weak in the short term but it's not a fundamental problem for us because our unemployment rate is low, and that's the bottom line of the short-term. Unemployment rate is low, jobs are available and training places are available. Our real challenge therefore is to focus on restructuring our economy so that we can move one whole level higher - productivity, skills, expertise," Mr Tharman shared.
He said this means using management methods and technology to improve efficiency and productivity so that workers can get paid more.
"They can have more satisfying jobs and we can grow our economy without growing employment year after year, especially foreign employment. So we got to find the right balance. It's something that affects every sector of the economy. And, we look at the most developed countries and we can see how it's done. They too went through that transition. In some cases not very long ago, they went through the same transition. They ramp up on labour and they have to upgrade, do with less labour, but using technology and everyone playing that part, including customers, everyone playing that part. You can move up to a higher level. That way, our workers can get good wages, get good jobs," he said.
Mr Tharman added that the government will provide every form of support to help companies, especially small and medium enterprises, to make this transition.
- CNA/ck
- wong chee tat :)
尚达曼：短期内我国经济增长将会变得疲弱
11/11/2012
尚达曼：短期内我国经济增长将会变得疲弱
副总理尚达曼说：受环球经济低迷影响，短期内我国经济增长将会变得疲弱。
也是财政部长的尚达曼在出席裕廊集选区的社区活动时，告诉媒体：如何重组我国经济，确保能取得长期和持续的增长，将是我国面对的挑战。
目前，许多国家正在为美国可能出现的"财政悬崖"做好准备，担心由民主党和共和党分别控制的参众两院无法对财政预算达成共识。
尚达曼指出：即使美国成功克服这项挑战，更为严峻的问题是如何制定更具持续性的中期预算，以便恢复投资者的信心。他说：尽管亚洲经济表现出色，但美国和欧元区的疲弱经济增长，肯定会影响我国。
尚达曼说：短期内，需求会显得疲弱，不过这对我国来说问题不大，因为本地的失业率偏低。我国面对的真正挑战是如何重组经济，进一步提高生产力、技能和专业知识。
他指出，这意味着当局必须通过管理手段和科技，提高效率和生产力，以便让员工能赚取更高的收入。
尚达曼说：这样国人就能拥有让他们感到满足的工作，同时我国经济又能在无需每年取得就业增长，尤其是外国人力就业增长的情况下，继续发展。我国必须在这当中取得平衡。多数发达国家已经完成这个过渡期。
他也强调：政府将为企业，尤其是中小型企业提供各种支持，协助他们度过这个过渡期。
- wong chee tat :)
尚达曼：短期内我国经济增长将会变得疲弱
副总理尚达曼说：受环球经济低迷影响，短期内我国经济增长将会变得疲弱。
也是财政部长的尚达曼在出席裕廊集选区的社区活动时，告诉媒体：如何重组我国经济，确保能取得长期和持续的增长，将是我国面对的挑战。
目前，许多国家正在为美国可能出现的"财政悬崖"做好准备，担心由民主党和共和党分别控制的参众两院无法对财政预算达成共识。
尚达曼指出：即使美国成功克服这项挑战，更为严峻的问题是如何制定更具持续性的中期预算，以便恢复投资者的信心。他说：尽管亚洲经济表现出色，但美国和欧元区的疲弱经济增长，肯定会影响我国。
尚达曼说：短期内，需求会显得疲弱，不过这对我国来说问题不大，因为本地的失业率偏低。我国面对的真正挑战是如何重组经济，进一步提高生产力、技能和专业知识。
他指出，这意味着当局必须通过管理手段和科技，提高效率和生产力，以便让员工能赚取更高的收入。
尚达曼说：这样国人就能拥有让他们感到满足的工作，同时我国经济又能在无需每年取得就业增长，尤其是外国人力就业增长的情况下，继续发展。我国必须在这当中取得平衡。多数发达国家已经完成这个过渡期。
他也强调：政府将为企业，尤其是中小型企业提供各种支持，协助他们度过这个过渡期。
- wong chee tat :)
Several DBS, POSB ATMs "out of service"
Several DBS, POSB ATMs "out of service"
Posted: 11 November 2012 1746 hrs
SINGAPORE: Several DBS and POSB automated teller machines (ATM) were reported to be out of service on Sunday.
The problem seemed to have started late Sunday morning with the affected ATMs being progressively restored from noon and fully operational by 3:00pm.
A Channel NewsAsia viewer, who wanted to be known as Ms Goh, said she wanted to withdraw some money at Kovan.
She said out of the five ATMs, four were down at about 11:00am. She also added that there was a queue and some people were frustrated.
Ms Goh said she called the bank's customer service hotline and was told that the bank is aware of the situation and was trying to fix the problem.
Another viewer reported that an ATM at Bukit Purmei was out of service at about 1.30pm.
Some ATMs at Suntec City were also down.
A statement from DBS Group said a number of ATMs were temporarily out of service. And, at this point, DBS is unable to confirm the number of affected ATMs and the cause of the problem.
As the majority of the bank's ATM network was functioning normally, customer contact officers were able to advise customers on the location of neighbouring ATMs.
DBS' internet banking and mobile banking services were unaffected.
- CNA/ck
- wong chee tat :)
Posted: 11 November 2012 1746 hrs
SINGAPORE: Several DBS and POSB automated teller machines (ATM) were reported to be out of service on Sunday.
The problem seemed to have started late Sunday morning with the affected ATMs being progressively restored from noon and fully operational by 3:00pm.
A Channel NewsAsia viewer, who wanted to be known as Ms Goh, said she wanted to withdraw some money at Kovan.
She said out of the five ATMs, four were down at about 11:00am. She also added that there was a queue and some people were frustrated.
Ms Goh said she called the bank's customer service hotline and was told that the bank is aware of the situation and was trying to fix the problem.
Another viewer reported that an ATM at Bukit Purmei was out of service at about 1.30pm.
Some ATMs at Suntec City were also down.
A statement from DBS Group said a number of ATMs were temporarily out of service. And, at this point, DBS is unable to confirm the number of affected ATMs and the cause of the problem.
As the majority of the bank's ATM network was functioning normally, customer contact officers were able to advise customers on the location of neighbouring ATMs.
DBS' internet banking and mobile banking services were unaffected.
- CNA/ck
- wong chee tat :)
樟宜机场集团：第三方提供的办理登机手续系统出现故障
Updated: Sat, 10 Nov 2012 23:51:59 GMT
樟宜机场集团：第三方提供的办理登机手续系统出现故障
樟宜机场集团表示，今天上午因为办理登机手续的系统故障而延误的四家廉价航空公司，都使用第三方提供的系统。
据樟宜机场集团了解，系统故障源自澳大利亚，当地使用同个系统的多家航空公司也受影响。
集团表示，将同受影响的航空公司和系统供应商携手合作，避免航班延误的情况再次发生。
系统故障是在早上6点20分左右发生，系统大约在早上8点50分恢复运作，当时共有15趟航班延误，最后一趟在上午11点20分左右起飞。受影响的是在第二搭客大厦起降的虎航和飞萤，以及在第一搭客大厦运作的捷星亚洲和亚洲航空。
系统故障也影响过后起飞的航班，虎航表示，共有14趟航班受影响。
- wong chee tat :)
樟宜机场集团：第三方提供的办理登机手续系统出现故障
樟宜机场集团表示，今天上午因为办理登机手续的系统故障而延误的四家廉价航空公司，都使用第三方提供的系统。
据樟宜机场集团了解，系统故障源自澳大利亚，当地使用同个系统的多家航空公司也受影响。
集团表示，将同受影响的航空公司和系统供应商携手合作，避免航班延误的情况再次发生。
系统故障是在早上6点20分左右发生，系统大约在早上8点50分恢复运作，当时共有15趟航班延误，最后一趟在上午11点20分左右起飞。受影响的是在第二搭客大厦起降的虎航和飞萤，以及在第一搭客大厦运作的捷星亚洲和亚洲航空。
系统故障也影响过后起飞的航班，虎航表示，共有14趟航班受影响。
- wong chee tat :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)