KOTA KINABALU, Feb 1: For the past four months or so, a group of individuals believed they’d found the perfect place to grow a very illegal crop. They used two plush condominium units at the exclusive Signal Hill area near the city’s downtown area for their cultivation of cannabis plants. The group had special paraphernalia such as devices to ensure their illicit crops grew faster as well as more mundane ga ...

Feb 2: PKR MP Darell Leiking asked Sabah’s religious authorities today to clarify whether a 2003 religious edict, or fatwa, banning non-Muslims using 31 Arabic remains in effect. The Penampang MP claimed that non-Muslims in the state are largely unaware that commonly used Arabic words such as God or “Allah” and “Injil” (Gospel) are included in the list of words may be prohibited to them. “Most Sabahans woul ...

KOTA KINABALU, Feb 2: Opposition party, STAR Sabah has urged the state government to demand that the federal government to return 40% of the RM772 million net revenue collected by Customs and Excise Department from Sabah in 2013. Party leader and state assembly representative Jeffrey Kitingan said this was a requirement in accordance with the Tenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution. He was commenting on ...

KUANTAN, Feb 3: Police yesterday said they will look into the controversial video clip in which Seputeh member of parliament Teresa Kok is said to have insulted the prime minister, the nation's security forces and the Malay community. Federal Internal Security and Public Order director Datuk Seri Salleh Mat Rashid said yesterday those who triggered controversy by touching on elements that could stir racial ...

Feb 2: Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the leading actors of his generation, who won an Academy Award for his title role in the film "Capote," was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Sunday in what a New York police source described as an apparent drug overdose. Hoffman, 46, was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of his Greenwich Village apartment by police responding to a 911 call, and Emergency ...

KOTA KINABALU, Jan 29: Outgoing Sabah Islamic Affairs Department (Jheains) Director Datuk Amri A. Suratman said Tuesday that the recent mass conversion of Christian natives to Islam in Pitas is valid under Islamic law, although the manner in which it was carried out is under investigation. Amri said only the Syariah Court can now cancel or retain the new converts' religion status. He said Jheains had invest ...

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Jan 30: Donated food and household necessities were handed out to victims of recent floods in Tutong yesterday by volunteers from the private sector and local non-governmental organisations. Among the items donated by Syarikat Perniagaan Malar Setia were 20 boxes of McVites Digestives, 20 boxes of Tiger cream crackers, 45 cases of Jacob’s oatmeal, 100 boxes of Rainfresh Oxygenated Water ...

TUTONG, Jan 30: Most roads in the flood-hit areas of Tutong are now accessible to the public with floodwaters beginning to decrease. Floodwater levels of below 0.4 metres were recorded on nearly 90 per cent of the affected roads in the district yesterday. The depth of floods on Jalan Kg Benutan, Jalan Kecil Layong and Jalan Bengkuru measured between 0.5 and 0.7 metres. Meanwhile, 11 other roads have since d ...

KALIMANTAN, Jan 28: Though the orangutan is a species endemic to Kalimantan, not all of the island’s residents have seen it firsthand. Many nature lovers claim to have never come into contact with the primate, let alone ordinary people. For Christian Willy, 17, his quest to see the ape in the wild has not yet been fruitful. As a member of the Bentangor Volunteers for Conservation (RebonK), he and his collea ...

KUCHING, Jan 30: The federal government will consult Sarawak government on the goods and service tax (GST) before its implementation on April 1, 2015. Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the federal government was fully aware that Sabah and Sarawak had special rights to impose service and sales tax on certain services and goods that they produced. He said the two parties would certainly need to ...