Indonesians have mobilized in record numbers to collect cash for the Australian PM, who touched a raw nerve by bringing up Australia’s $1 bn in tsunami relief aid to Jakarta while making a clemency appeal for convicted drug traffickers.
Images of Australian Prime Minister Tonny Abbott with red tape crossed over his mouth can be seen all over Indonesia, particularly in Jakarata. Loads of silver coins are covering banners spread on the ground – all part of the “repay” protest campaign that has spread like a bushfire across the island nation.

As part of the international relief effort for the 2004 earthquake and tsunami off the west coast of Sumatra that killed more than 100,000 people, Australia was quick to offer $1 billion in aid relief.


Speaking this week, Abbott hinted that it is time for the Asian nation to repay its debt by freeing two members of the famous Bali Nine, currently on a death row. The Bali Nine was a name given to a group of nine Australians who were arrested in Bali in 2005 Bali for planning to smuggle 8.3 kg (18 lb) of heroin, valued at over $3 million, from Indonesia to Australia.

“Let's not forget that a few years ago when Indonesia was struck by the Indian Ocean tsunami, Australia sent a billion dollars worth of assistance,” Abbot said. “I would say to the Indonesian people and the Indonesian government: we in Australia are always there to help you and we hope that you might reciprocate in this way at this time,” the PM stated, referring to death-row Australian nationals Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
The plea sparked a fierce backlash, with Indonesians comparing Tony Abbott to Shakespeare’s Shylock, the moneylender in The Merchant of Venice who demanded a pound of flesh if his loans weren’t paid back.

In order to rebuff the Australian PM, the nation of 250 million is now collecting pocket change to repay the “loan” Australia had once provided.
"Australians need a prime minister, not a Shylock and drug dealer's cousin," read a banner during Sunday’s protest. A Twitter campaign using the hashtags #KoinuntukAustralia, #coinforAustralia and #coinforAbbott has also generated a lot of steam.

While on the diplomatic front, the country’s leadership seemed satisfied by the explanation offered by the Australians on Friday, many ordinary Indonesians remain enraged. During a protest on Sunday, thousands rallied to express their anger and continue to coin collection campaign.
The Pro-Indonesia Coalition, for example, organized a “Coin for Australia” movement during a car-free day at a roundabout near Hotel Indonesia.

“Let us not let our dignity being bought by Tony Abbot,” action coordinator Andi Sinulingga said at the event.
Rian, one of the event organizers, told the Sydney Morning Herald that it was a joy delivering the coins to the Australian embassy, saying that if every person donates one coin, which has a population of 250 million, Indonesia could pay back the “small amount of money donated by Australia.”

“So, don't you ever mention something as tiny as $1 billion in relief for us,” Rian said. “We are a nation that refuses to be colonized, a nation that would like to tell other nations not to try to destroy this republic.”

Indonesia plans to execute 11 convicts on death row, including the drug convicts from Australia, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, whose clemency pleas had been rejected by President Joko Widodo. Earlier this week, however, the vice president's office said that the execution of two Australian smugglers had been delayed by up to one month.
Indonesia executed six drug offenders in January, including five foreigners, prompting Brazil and the Netherlands to recall their ambassadors.

Source http://rt.com

Intex has launched its first Android 5.0 Lollipop-based Aqua Star L, priced at Rs. 6,990. The smartphone will be available in Black and White colours starting Monday exclusively via Snapdeal. The company touts that the Intex Aqua Star L is the "first Android 5.0 Lollipop smartphone by an Indian brand." To be noted however, is that Xolo recently provided Android 5.0 Lollipop updates for two of its smartphones in India.
The Aqua Star L is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone featuring a 5-inch (480x854 pixels) FWVGA IPS display. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core (unspecified chipset) processor coupled with 1GB of RAM.

It comes with 8GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB). It sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, while there is a secondary 2-megapixel front-facing camera also on board.
On the connectivity front, the Aqua Star L offers 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth options. The smartphone packs a 2000mAh battery. It weighs 130 grams.
Commenting on the launch, Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, Mobile Business Head, Intex Technologies said, "Our newest offering in the Aqua collection, the Aqua Star L, proves Intex's dedication to remain a technology supernal. It is absolutely imperative to run along with the technological advancements to stay in a competitive environment. Looking at the demand, the smartphone has been instilled with a 12.7 cm (5-inch) fully laminated screen and an 8-megapixel camera along with various features. We are excited to bring Intex's latest phone to our customers."
Earlier this week, Intex launched the Aqua X, which was listed on the company's site at a price of Rs. 2,699. Prior to this, the Indian domestic handset maker launched the Intex Aqua Power HD for the Indian market, apart from listing the Intex Aqua 5X and Aqua 3G Star on its website.



Source by NDTV

Lava has launched the Iris 465 smartphone, which is now listed on the company's site at a price of Rs. 4,499. There is no official word on the availability details of the smartphone; though, we expect that the company will announce the availability of the smartphone in the coming days.
The dual-SIM based Lava Iris 465 comes with support for 21 Indian languages, which can be considered the highlight of the device. This is not the first time Lava has launched a smartphone with multiple languages support as the Iris 402e budget smartphone unveiled last year supported 10 Indian languages.

The Iris 465 runs Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box and features a 4.5-inch (480x854 pixels) FWVGA TFT display. The smartphone is powered by 1.3GHz dual-core (unspecified chipset) processor coupled with 512MB of RAM. It comes with 4GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).
The smartphone sports a 3.2-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, while there is a secondary 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera also on board. The rear camera features scene detection, face recognition, panorama, geo-tagging, best shot, smile shot, and HDR options.
On the connectivity front, the Lava Iris 465 offers 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth options. The smartphone packs a 1750mAh battery. It measures 134.4x68x10mm; weighs 146 grams, and is listed in Black colour.
Lava last week launched the Iris X8 flagship smartphone at Rs. 8,999. The Lava Iris X8 is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone which runs Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box and is upgradable to Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Source by NDTV

Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota will be feature brands at the inaugural Australian Motoring Festival when it kicks off in Melbourne later next month.
Organisers of the four-day festival say the involvement of the three diverse brands gives motoring enthusiasts an indication of the sort of diversity they can expect from the interactive indoor and outdoor experience.
“These three global brands are among the largest in the industry across the luxury sports, prestige and everyday categories,” Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce executive director Geoff Gwilym said. “We would like to thank them for supporting the inaugural year of the Australian Motoring Festival.
“We are confident that the festival will offer them the opportunity to connect with the Australian driving public in a new and dynamic way.”
Ferrari Australasia CEO Herbert Appleroth said the iconic Italian sports car maker was excited to be a feature brand at the inaugural event.
“This is a unique opportunity for lovers of cars to get close and personal with our brand and our beautiful vehicles,” Appleroth said.
“Our Ferrari Experience display area will feature 30 years of Ferrari supercar history and a stunning Ferrari showroom with the latest range of Ferrari road cars.
“The Australian Motoring Festival is an event that no Ferrari enthusiast will want to miss.”

Mercedes-Benz Australia CEO Horst von Sanden and Toyota Australia southern regional manager Stephen Slater also promised dynamic experiences for festival-goers.
“The Australian Motoring Festival will be an excellent platform for Mercedes-Benz to showcase the latest safety technology and performance vehicles,” von Sanden said.
“We will be featuring Mercedes-AMG models and the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy during the festival, along with a few surprise vehicles.”
Slater added: “The Australian Motoring Festival will be a great opportunity to let motoring enthusiasts look, feel and touch all the different vehicles in our extensive range and experience the technology in an interesting, interactive environment.
“We’re really excited to be involved, and look forward to bringing festival patrons into the Toyota family.”
Among the attractions at the Australian Motoring Festival will be the new car pavilion and promenade where attendees will be able to set up close and personal with new models, the auto design centre and industry showroom with displays and information about careers in the industry, on-road and off-road test tracks, the History that Moves exhibition with 150 vehicles that show the progression of the automobile, and a vehicle auction for vintage and classic cars, among others.
The Australian Motoring Festival runs from March 26-29 at the Melbourne Showgrounds. Single-day tickets cost $30 for adults, $25 for concessions, $20 for kids (5-15 years), $60 for families (two adults plus up to three children), and kids under five are free.

Source : www.caradvice.com.au

Channel Ten has extended its Formula One TV rights deal until the end of 2019, but will only broadcast 10 races per year on free-to-air. All F1 races, including those shown on Ten, will be broadcast live on Fox Sports.
With its current F1 TV arrangement set to expire at the end of the 2015 season, Network Ten has renegotiated its deal, extending it until the end of 2019.
The financially embattled free-to-air network, which is reportedly subject to a buy-out bid by Foxtel and Discovery, has retained rights to all Formula One races, but has decided to strike a new sub-licensing deal with pay TV network Fox Sports.
As part of the sub-licensing agreement, Fox Sports will air live, in high definition, all F1 races, practices and qualifying sessions from 2015 to 2019.
Channel Ten will simulcast 10 out of the 20 races per season from 2015 to 2019, including the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. For all races that it broadcasts, Channel Ten will air the practice and qualifying sessions, as well as stream the events via its Tenplay website.
The free-to-air station has yet to indicate which races it will broadcast this year, aside from the Australian fixture that kicks off the 2015 season from March 13 to 15. For races that aren’t shown on Network Ten, a one hour highlights show will be screened on One at 9.30pm on the Monday following the event.
Last year, Ten and Fox Sports struck a similar deal with V8 Supercars, where Ten will simulcast six events — the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, Townsville 500, Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000, Gold Coast 600 and Sydney 500 — with the remainder screened live and exclusive on Fox Sports.\

This V8 Supercars broadcasting arrangement will run from 2015 to 2020.

 

 

Source : www.caradvice.com.au

 

 

When Yousef Abu-Salha and his youngest sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha were just kids, they'd team up against their sister Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, the middle child, teasing her until she charged at them and they'd scamper away, laughing.
That memory stands out, he told Mashable. Yousef also remembers helping a friend beat a Pokemon Game Boy game in 4th grade. That friend was named Deah Barakat. Yousef didn't known then that Deah would grow up to marry Yusor and become his brother-in-law.

Yusor, Razan and Deah were murdered on Tuesday evening, allegedly shot dead by a man named Craig Stephen Hicks, a 46-year-old atheist. Some family members believe the murders were a hate crime, meaning they may have been killed for being Muslim. Hicks' attorney maintains the triple murder was prompted by a parking dispute.

People gather at UNC-Chapel Hill's "Pit" to mourn for Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohammed Abu-Salha and her sister Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Feb. 11.

Image: The News & Observer, Travis Long/Associated Press

Yousef, like the rest of his family, is heartbroken. But his memories are full of life.
He has so many good memories of Yusor from December alone. She graduated from North Carolina State University. She was accepted into the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry. She married Deah.
"We spent the whole month celebrating her," Yousef said. "I told her it was only going to get better."
Yusor, by all accounts, made for a tough act to follow. But Yousef said his baby sister Razan believed in her own talents, of which there were many.
She was a student in the architecture program at North Carolina State University, a program that Yousef thinks is more competitive than medical school. Razan wasn't much of a studier, but she read and wrote all the time, and had little trouble acing tests.

"I am so blessed to have spent two decades of my life with them," Yousef said. "

''I want people to remember their smiles, their modesty, their warm yet bubbly personalities ''

I want people to remember their smiles, their modesty, their warm yet bubbly personalities, their humility, their compassion, their philanthropy." Yousef called Deah his most genuine friend. He was elated when Yusor told him Deah was interested in a relationship.

The wedding, he said, was beautiful, and the couple's love was obvious. They did all sorts of charity work, but Yusor and Deah—who was a UNC dental student—also watched sports, traveled, and binged on Netflix.
When people think of the lives of Yusor, Razan and Deah, Yousef wants them to know they are "the true representation of our faith, Islam."
Thousands of people attended a vigil for the three at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Wednesday, and an equally massive crowd attended their funeral on Thursday. The outpouring of support, Yousef said, underlines the fact that the three were a vital part of so many communities.

Namee Barakat, right, wipes away tears as he and his wife, Layla, left, watch photos projected on a screen during a vigil for his son, daughter-in-law and her sister, who were killed at a condominium near UNC-Chapel Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 11, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Image: The News & Observer, Chuck Liddy/Associated Press

"Their deaths were so tragic, the world couldn't help but sympathize with them," he said.
Yousef, who studies at the American University of Antigua medical school, said he is taking the semester off to be with his family. He knows his hiatus is temporary, though, because he said he owes it to his sisters to finish his education.
"I am so grateful to God for blessing me with the time we spent together," Yousef said. "Although we are heartbroken, we are so proud of them."

Souce by Mashable

"I told her she got lucky, because he was literally the only guy I would approve of," Yousef said.

The idea was inspired by little vampire bats. This Deployable Air-Land Exploration Robot can shift its walking mode with flying mode. It uses its wings for walking towards its destination. Different modes of locomotion are provided. The drone can adjust its flexible wing structure according to the mode selected.

The purpose of the bot is to help those trapped in areas hard to reach. Multiple modes of movement allows the drone to find and reach the victims during any search and rescue operations. In addition to all these functions, the bot also looks like a cool mechanical bat or pteranodon.


Source by GameNgadget.com

SAFFiR, the humanoid firefighting robot that the US Navy and Virginia Tech engineers have been developing for years, is now more than just a blueprint. In fact, the military division has already demonstrated what the biped can do aboard one of its decommissioned ships. During a series of tests conducted in November 2014, it worked well enough to navigate uneven floors (extremely difficult for humanoid machines), identify equipment using thermal imaging and handle a hose to put out small fires. The Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot did need a bit of help from a sidekick, though. No, not the firefighting snakebot Anna Konda (which is unfortunate, if you think they're the perfect pair), but a small drone created by Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute.
That drone is an autonomous quadcopter called Damage Control Technologies for the 21st Century (DC-21) designed to be smaller than commercial models hobbyists can buy, so it can fit in tight entrances. It uses infrared to detect fires, depth cameras similar to Kinect's to map out locations, and it obviously has the capability to communicate, as it was made to relay those data to SAFFiR. Since it's so small, the battery that can fit in it only lasts for 5 minutes. Its creators are planning to build a version with two large propellers instead of four small ones, though -- that way, its power source can last for up to 30 minutes.
As for SAFFiR itself, well, looks like a goofier, less terrifying version of DARPA's Atlas. It stands at 5-feet-10-inches and weighs 143 pounds, equipped with infrared and a rotating light detection and ranging (LIDAR) laser to be able to make its way through dense smoke. It apparently has the capability to perform tasks autonomously, but since the goal is for people and robots to work together in the face of danger and not to replace the sailors, it was designed to take orders from a human controller.
Despite performing well during the demo last year, that doesn't mean SAFFiR's ready to be deployed. It still needs to be tethered to stay upright in its current state, and it's just much too slow to be a first responder. Plus, the current model is not water- and fire-proof, which sounds like a recipe for disaster since it's firefighting robot on a ship. That's why the Navy plans to commission a more advanced design with "enhanced intelligence, communications capabilities, speed, computing power and battery life for extended applications." Also, SAFFiR will most likely be fitted with more sensors in order to perform mundane tasks and free up sailors to accomplish more complicated ones.

[Image credit: US Navy/John F. Williams/Released]

Via: PCWorld