Maldives cabinet meets under sea in climate plea

THE Maldives' government held an underwater cabinet meeting yesterday in a bid to focus global attention on rising sea levels that threaten to submerge the low-lying atoll nation.

President Mohamed Nasheed plunged first into the Indian Ocean followed by his ministers, all clad in scuba gear, for the nationally televised meeting in this archipelago known as an idyllic holiday getaway for the rich.

Nasheed and his deputy, Mohamed Waheed, and a dozen ministers sat behind tables arranged in a horseshoe at a depth of six metres and approved a resolution urging global action to cut carbon emissions.

Tropical reef fish swam among the ministers and the nation's red and green flag with white crescent moon was planted in the seabed behind Nasheed.

After surfacing, he called for the UN's climate summit in Copenhagen in December to forge a deal to reduce carbon emissions blamed for rising sea levels that experts say could swamp the Maldives by the century's end.

"We should come out of Copenhagen with a deal that will ensure that everyone will survive," said the 42-year-old president as he bobbed in the shimmering turquoise waters.

He said there was "less talk" during the half-hour underwater meeting, but he had managed to get more work done.

"The Maldives is a frontline state and what happens to us today will happen to others tomorrow," Nasheed said.

Asked how he felt about taking the cabinet for a splash, he replied they had all enjoyed the plunge into the clear, warm waters. "The president, vice president, and the cabinet signed a declaration calling for concerted global action on climate change, ahead of the UN climate conference," the president's office said in a statement.

The ministers signed the resolution, printed on a white board, using water-proof markers. They had taken diving lessons for the last two months and were accompanied by their trainers at the unprecedented underwater meeting off the islet of Girifushi.

The dive was the latest publicity stunt by the media-savvy Nasheed to focus world attention on climate change and its effects on the Maldives ahead of the Copenhagen meeting.

In 2007, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that an increase in sea levels of just 18 to 59 centimetres would make the country virtually uninhabitable by 2100. Nasheed, the archipelago's first democratically elected president, stunned the world last year when he announced he wanted to buy a homeland to relocate the threatened Maldives.

Before O Level.....Part 1

Button keeps calm as F1 title beckons

JENSON BUTTON (picture) has his first chance to win the Formula One title on Sunday at the Japanese Grand Prix but the Brawn driver will not be rushed.

The Briton banked four points in Singapore at the weekend to move 15 points clear of Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello with three races remaining.

"People say that if I finish five points in front of Rubens I can win the championship," he said.

"I know that's a fact. But my aim is to win the world championship and I'm not going to take any unusual risks.

"I'm just going to drive like I have been and hopefully that will be enough."

Button also knows that scoring five more points than Barrichello is a tall order on current form. He has managed to do that only twice this season and not since winning the Turkish Grand Prix in June.

Button, winner of six of the first seven races of the season, will have to perform a balancing act, maintaining his push for the title but also keeping out of trouble.

Lewis Hamilton, the man he would replace as champion, reminded him in Singapore how he had blown a 17-point lead in the last two races of 2007 to lose the championship by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Even if the drivers' championship stays open, Brawn can become the only team to have won the title in their debut season.

The Mercedes-powered outfit are 42.5 points clear of Red Bull with just 36 left to be won after Japan, and Suzuka would be a great place to do it given the team's recent Honda ownership.

The pressure is on Red Bull to score seven points more than Brawn on Sunday to keep the battle going at least mathematically.

Barrichello is one of just three current drivers to have won at Suzuka, which is making its return to the calendar after the last two Japanese races were held at Fuji.

Raikkonen and Renault's Fernando Alonso, who looks certain to take the Finn's place at Ferrari next year with an announcement imminent, should both go well at one of their favourite fast circuits.

Hamilton, who won in Singapore, has never raced there but cannot wait to get to grips with one of the sport's great tracks.

"It feels like I've been waiting my whole life to race at Suzuka — so, as you can imagine, I'll be really excited when practice starts there on Friday morning," said the 24-year-old.

"Ever since I was a kid, I've raced Suzuka on computer games — and while it kind of gives you an idea of how the circuit goes, nothing can beat the real thing. It looks like a real driver's circuit," he added.

Toyota will also be doing their utmost to put on a show at the Honda-owned track, with their hopes boosted by Timo Glock's second place in Singapore despite continuing speculation about their future in the sport

113 dead as Pacific quake, tsunami, flatten villages

TOWERING tsunamis churned up by a huge earthquake slammed into the Samoan iland and the United States led with immediate pledges of assistance, scores more people were missing feared dead in the chaos and despair that the twin disaster left in its wake.

"We are getting reports of missing people in areas where damage is extensive on the south and southeast coasts," local journalist Jona Tuiletufuga said. "Entire villages have been wiped out."

Up to 70 villages stood in the way of the waves in the worst-hit area and each housed from 300-800 people, Tuiletufuga said.

Nine members of one family were killed in the village of Lalomanu on the south-east of Samoa, a relative said.

"My family own the Taufua Beach Fales and we have confirmation that nine members of our family have perished, four of them children and many more missing," the bereaved relative told Australia's public broadcaster.

"The tourists haven't been accounted for either."

Amateur video footage showed villages that had been completely obliterated, homes reduced to shards of metal and wood, while cars were stuck in treetops where they had been hurled by the force of the tsunami.

Samoa's deputy prime minister Misa Telefoni said his tiny country's tourism hotspot was "devastated" by the tsunami which left residents and holidaymakers with little time to flee.

"We've heard that most of the resorts are totally devastated on that side of the island. We've had a pretty grim picture painted of all that coast," he said.

Two of the country's most popular resorts, Sinalei Reef Resort and Coconuts Beach Resort, off the west coast of the main island of Upolu, had been hit hard, he told AAP.

Australia said at least two of its citizens, including a six-year-old girl, were dead while Seoul said two Koreans were also killed. One person from New Zealand was also feared dead.

Apia, capital of the independent state of Samoa and nearly 3,000km from Auckland in New Zealand, was evacuated as officials scrambled to get thousands of residents to higher ground.

Officials in American Samoa, about 100km from Samoa, said the death toll of 22 was expected to climb.

"It could take a week or so before we know the full extent," Michael Sala, Homeland Security director in American Samoa, said.

Waves around 25 feet high did most of the damage as they swept ashore about 20 minutes after the earthquake

75 dead in Indonesia quake

AT LEAST 75 people were killed and thousands more trapped underneath rubble after a major earthquake hit Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday, officials said, with fears the death toll would yet rise.

Large buildings including hospitals and hotels caved in, homes fell down and fires raged in the coastal city of Padang, home to nearly a million people, as communications and power remained cut hours after the 7.6-magnitude quake.

"Houses and buildings have collapsed, causing thousands of people to be trapped inside in the rubble," Health Ministry crisis centre head Rustam Pakaya told this agency, adding that a major city hospital was among the destroyed buildings.

Rescue teams and doctors had been sent overland and were expected to arrive in the city in about 10 hours, Pakaya said.

Confirming the death toll, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said there were grave concerns for thousands trapped under buckled buildings.

"The initial level is 75 but it's certain to be higher than that," Kalla told reporters.

Local media reported that panicked residents rushed from their homes during the quake, which struck off Sumatra's west coast at 5.16pm (6.16 pm in Brunei), 47km northwest of Padang.

"A number of hotels in Padang have been destroyed," Indonesian tsunami warning head Rahmat Triyono said, adding the agency did not release a tsunami alert.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii however issued a tsunami watch for Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Thailand, but later cancelled it.

"Up to now we haven't been able to reach Padang, communications have been cut," Triyono said.

The quake was felt in the capital Jakarta, 940km away, and sent frightened office workers streaming out of buildings in nearby Singapore and the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

"The shaking was the worst I had ever felt," Yuliarni, a resident of Pariaman district outside Padang, told TVOne news channel.

"Houses have collapsed, the lights and electricity were cut off... People were fleeing to higher ground and some were hurt," she said.

The quake caused a landslide that destroyed houses at Lake Maninjau inland from Padang, local resident Hafiz told the channel, and the airport was also closed for damage.

"Part of the roof of the arrival hall at the Padang airport collapsed but nobody was injured. The runway is okay. The airport has been closed but will reopen at 7am tomorrow," Hariyanto, an official of airport operator company Angkasa Pura II, said.

Geologists said Padang, which lies near the colliding Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates, was vulnerable to more quakes and tsunamis.

BSP celebrates its 80th anniversary

HIS Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam attended yesterday a joyous celebration to mark the 80th Anniversary of Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) Co Sdn Bhd.

Held at the BSP Headquarters in Seria, Belait District, the celebration was attended by the Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister's Office, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Major General (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Hj Mohammad Hj Daud, Chairman of BSP/BLNG/BST/BSM and Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Royal Dutch Shell Peter Voser and Managing Director (MD) of BSP Dr Grahaeme Henderson.

Also in attendance was the Minister of Communications Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Hj Abu Bakar Hj Apong and senior members of BSP's board of directors, senior officials from the government sector and senior management officials from BSP, BLNG, BST and BSM.

The celebration, which was also part of a working visit of His Majesty, began with a marking of the momentous occasion with a recital of the surah Al-Fatihah and thanksgiving Doa (prayer) followed by greetings and messages of appreciation by BSP's executive management officials.

The programme continued with opening remarks by Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng followed with words of appreciation and admiration from the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell and BSP's Managing Director on the successful partnership shared by BSP and His Majesty's Government.

The joyous occasion was also marked by the launching of BSP's 80 Year Anniversary Exhibition as well as the company's Road Safety Campaign entitled "Tell a Friend" at the Atrium of BSP's Head Office by His Majesty.

After the launch, His Majesty then proceeded on the working visit of BSP with a tour of the Managing Director's office which overlooks the South China Sea, followed by a tour of the Technology Corridor and Time Tunnel where BSP Staff took the opportunity to mingle with His Majesty.

The working visit then commenced with a tour of one of BSP's Champion Seven offshore platforms.

In securing the energy needs, BSP aims to grow further and reach greater heights beyond the 80 years of the oil and gas industry's existence in the country.

The 80th anniversary celebration of oil and gas development is a result of a concerted partnership between BSP, His Majesty's government, Royal Dutch/Shell and the endearing support from the people of Brunei.

The company, in conjunction with their anniversary celebrations, also held a mass prayer, recital of the surah Yasin and a Doa Kesyukuran (thanksgiving) ceremony last Monday at the BSP Head Office's Surau (prayer hall).

The prayers were attended by BSP staff and led by Hj Sainal Abidin Hj Mohd Ali, the Deputy Managing Director of BSP.

HM congratulates China president on 60th National Day

HIS Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has sent congratulatory messages to China's leader on the occasion of the People's Republic of China's 60th National Day today.

In the message to Chinese President Hu Jintao, His Majesty thanked the president for his personal contribution to enhancing the existing bilateral relationships and looks forward to working closely in ensuring many more years of excellent ties between both countries.

The republic's achievements and contributions in terms of regional and international cooperation were also highlighted in His Majesy's message.

The monarch also noted that Brunei was especially pleased to have worked closely with China as coordinators in promoting ASEAN-China relations.

His Majesty also expressed his appreciation for the warm friendship that is happily shared by both countries and the good work done to enhance close cooperation in the span of one year.

It was noted by His Majesty, that these areas in particular, pertained to areas of trade, defence, education and agriculture. The message concluded with the monarch conveying kindest regards for the continued good health and happiness of the president.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah also conveyed congratulatory messages to Minister of Foreign Affairs China Yang Jiechi as well as the government and the people.

In the message, HRH expressed pleasure in working closely with the minister in the past year in terms of strengthening the many areas of cooperation which both countries share.

"I look forward to continuing our work together in the upcoming year and give my very best wishes for a happy and most enjoyable 60th anniversary," the statement read.

With the fastest growing economy in the world, China has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market-oriented economy with a rapidly growing private sector.

Brunei Darussalam established diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China in 1991.