Underwater drones, also called unmanned submarines, are used for such purposes as checking offshore wind power plants and underwater pipelines. The vehicles, with electric motors, move under preset programs, collect data and send it to mother ships and base stations through communications using light or sound waves. Underwater drones are also utilized for collecting data on seabeds and their geological features. There are remote-controlled models as well.

In Japan, entities such as Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., IHI Corp. and government research bodies are developing underwater drones, utilizing their know-how cultivated through developing submarines. Mainstay models are 2 to 3 meters long. Some models can dive to depths of several thousand meters.

 Underwater research is usually conducted by divers, or by sinking equipment connected to cables. It is estimated that the cost of checking underwater pipelines can be cut to one-third by using underwater drones.

According to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, the market for underwater drones is expected to reach about $1.2 billion (about ¥130 billion) in 2023, up from about $200 million (about ¥21 billion) in 2010.

However, trouble is anticipated if the use of underwater drones increases, such as collisions with ships and underwater facilities, or drones becoming lost under the sea. To deal with such situations, the infrastructure ministry plans to draw up guidelines for measures to prevent accidents, and to deal with them when they do take place.

For example, the guidelines will require makers to install mechanisms to avoid collisions, and to collect drones once their batteries become depleted. To meet the demand, makers are expected to equip drones with functions such as halting themselves if other vehicles approach, and rising to the surface once their batteries go under a certain level.

The Civil Aeronautics Law prohibits aerial drones, which can be used for such purposes as taking aerial photos, from flying around airports and densely populated residential areas without permission. The necessity to prepare rules for underwater drones has surfaced as a similar issue to tackle, as there are almost no regulations on aspects such as where to use them.

PETALING JAYA: Tenants seeking to rent rooms or homes feel that Malaysian landlords continue to place too much emphasis on race.

According to a research, one in five Malaysians or 21% of 1,204 Malaysians surveyed, claimed to have experienced discrimination based on their ethnicity when seeking a place to rent.

This is higher than local Chinese (20%) and Malays (18%), who have faced ethnic discrimination when surveyed.

The findings is based on a survey involving 1,204 Malaysians, aged 18 and above.

It also found that a third (34%) of those surveyed are currently staying in rented properties, while seven in 10 (69%) had rented ­property at some point in their lives.

The research showed that 62% or six in 10 of those surveyed have come across rental advertisements with specific racial requirements, such as only a certain race, or a select few, being eligible to rent such premises.

A third of those surveyed also admitted they knew others who had also faced ethnic discrimination. It showed that six out of 10 Malaysian Indians who took part in the survey were being discriminated.

Two in five or 37% of those surveyed found that stating a racial preference in property advertisements is considered racism, with 58% of the local Indians surveyed agreeing to this.

However, 32% of those surveyed as a whole believe that landlords, who had racial preferences, only made good business sense, a view mostly held by Malaysian Chinese (39%).

About 60% of those polled felt that landlords should have “absolute discretion” when it comes to renting out their properties.

Asia Pacific’s YouGov Omnibus chief Jake Gammon said Malaysians were divided when it comes to the issue of ethnicity, with regard to the rental of premises.

“While a notable number have experienced racial discrimination in the rental market and many believe that race requirements in rental property ads constitute ­racism, a large proportion also believe that landlords renting out to preferred races made good business sense.

“Despite certain ethnic minorities feeling more strongly about the issue than others, the majority believe landlords should be left to their own devices,” said Gammon.

However some landlords say they prefer tenants from the same religious and ethnic background to avoid drama, others say they only care if their rent is paid up on time.

For Kelvin Lim, who has properties in Tropicana, he prefers to choose Chinese due to religious concerns.

“If I pick others, they might not be comfortable with some things that we do at home.

“We do not want to create unnecessary drama.

Lim, 38, said adverts asking for ethnicity or stating the ethnicity of preference, was common across the country.

“After talking to them over the phone, I will meet them personally to get to know more about the potential tenant.

“I want to make sure they will be able to take good care of my property.

“Some of the landlords prefer non-smokers.

“Others do not want tenants to have pets. This is also similar,” he said.

Another property owner in Petaling Jaya, Susan Lam, 42, said she does not take into consideration racial, religious or gender background but prefers those who could pay their rent on time and keep the premises clean.

“I have rented out my properties to all races.

“It is really not hard to respect each other’s beliefs.

“For Muslim tenants, they just do not mix their utensils while their housemates can cook using separate kitchen wares.

“There shouldn’t be any problem as we are a multiracial society and respect one another.

“As long as tenants are responsible, respectful and clean, that is good enough,” she said.

But Nur Sharifah Azhar, 32, who owns a property in Subang Jaya, said she prefers female tenants.

“Race is never a consideration but I have had bad experiences with male tenants.

“I rented out to a group of students but they did not take good care of the house. So now, I prefer female tenants or married couples,” she said.

Property agent Muhammad Iqbal Anwar, 33, said most landlords would make known their racial preferences when they want to rent out their properties.

“It is not unusual. We will stick to the choice of the landlords because it is their property. There is nothing racist about the advertisements,” he said.

American actress and YouTube personality Anna Brisbin, a.k.a. Brizzy Voices, showed off the unique talent of her 1-year-old miniature dachshund, Remus, who is named after the wizard Remus Lupin in the J.K. Rowling series, via Twitter on Monday, Jan 7.

Her video, which had gone viral, has garnered over 5.3 million views, as of this writing.

The dog, who was wearing a knitted gray shirt as well as a red and gold tie — akin to the Hogwarts school uniform of students in house Gryffindor — readily followed the commands in the form of magic spells issued by his owner.

He even has a few cheeky tricks up his paw: He urinates to perform water-making spell “Aguamenti” and responds to snake-summoning spell “Serpensortia” by sticking his tongue out.

Pottermore, the global digital publisher of Harry Potter and the Wizarding World, took to Twitter to reward the dog on Tuesday, Jan 8. “10 points to Gryffin-paw!” the account said.

Apparently, Remus is not the only pet of Brisbin to have an affiliation to the Wizarding World, as per her tweet yesterday. Her black cat which she likened to dementors, the creatures which feed on one’s happiness, was named “Torrie.”

“Harry Potter is my everything,” she told Huffington Post on Jan. 8. “It’s what raised me and formed me to be the person I am today and inspired my career as an actor.”

She also revealed what her favorite is among Remus’ tricks: “I love when he plays dead with Avada Kedavra. He’s picky, though, he’ll only roll over if there is carpet on the floor for his back. I suppose I am grateful he’s taking care of it.”

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland greeted Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun after she landed in Toronto, wearing a skirt, a gray hoodie emblazoned in red with the word “CANADA” and a blue cap with the logo of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Smiling broadly, the 18-year-old posed for photographers with Freeland at her side, but made no statement.

Later, she tweeted a video of her arrival, with the comment: “I love Canada I love you all.”

Freeland said Qunun “wanted Canadians to see that she’s here, that she’s well and that she is very, very happy to be in her new home.”

“She had a pretty long journey and is exhausted and prefers not to take questions for the moment,” the diplomatic chief added, with an arm around Qunun’s shoulder.

She was taken in by Toronto-based refugee group Costi, a spokeswoman said.

Shortly after her arrival, Qunun went shopping for some warm clothes in central Ontario, according to the spokesman, noting the teenager knows several people there and contacted them.

In the coming days, Costi representatives will help her open a bank account and perform various administrative tasks before finding her a permanent home.

In the meantime, she is staying in a facility constantly under guard. Costi has recommended Qunun that she avoid sharing her address.

– A trail of tweets –

The arrival in Canada marks the epilogue of an international saga.

Qunun captured the world’s attention with a trail of Twitter posts that ignited a #SaveRahaf movement as she fled what she said was physical and psychological abuse from her family in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia.

Rights groups also said she had renounced Islam, risking prosecution in Saudi Arabia. Her family has denied the abuse allegations.

The publicity thwarted an attempt to deport her to Saudi Arabia after she arrived in Bangkok on a flight from Kuwait a week ago, with Thai authorities instead turning her over to the UN’s refugee agency.

Then on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the surprise announcement that Canada would welcome her.

Freeland said that in granting Qunun asylum, Canada was “standing up for human rights around the world, and we believe very strongly that women’s rights are human rights.”

The move is sure to further strain Canada’s relations with the kingdom. Ties went sideways last August over Ottawa’s rights criticism of Saudi Arabia, prompting Riyadh to expel the Canadian ambassador and sever all trade and investment ties in protest.

Canada also sparked fury in Riyadh by demanding the “immediate release” of jailed rights campaigners, including Samar Badawi, the sister of jailed blogger Raif Badawi, whose family lives in Quebec.

Qunun’s attempt to flee Saudi Arabia was embraced by rights groups as a beacon of defiance against repression.

-‘Precarious situation’-

“Ms al-Qunun’s plight has captured the world’s attention over the past few days, providing a glimpse into the precarious situation of millions of refugees worldwide,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

“Refugee protection today is often under threat and cannot always be assured, but in this instance international refugee law and overriding values of humanity have prevailed.”

Raif Badawi’s wife Ensaf Haidar also praised Canada, calling Freeland on Twitter “the real hero” behind efforts to prevent Qunun’s repatriation to Saudi Arabia.

Qunun first said she was aiming for Australia. But late Friday, Thailand’s immigration police chief Surachate Hakparn said a smiling and cheerful Rahaf was bound for Toronto.

“The only country that really helped me in the end was Canada,” Qunun said after arriving in Toronto. “The rest were afraid and cowards.”

In a tweet, the UNHCR said: “We welcome Rahaf’s arrival in Canada and the Canadian Government’s decision to provide protection and a long-term solution for her there as a resettled refugee.”

– Death threats –

On Friday, Qunun posted a cryptic tweet on her profile saying, “I have some good news and some bad news.” Her account was deactivated shortly afterward in response to death threats she had faced, her friends said.

But she was back online later in the day, tweeting: “I would like to thank you people for supporting me and saving my life. Truly I have never dreamed of this love and support.”

She opened and began using a new Twitter handle on Friday, citing the threats.

Qunun’s use of Twitter saw her amass tens of thousands of followers within a week, highlighting her plight at a time when Saudi Arabia’s human rights record is under heavy scrutiny following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year.

Her deployment of social media allowed her to avoid the fate of countless other refugees who are quietly sent back home or left to languish in Bangkok detention centers.

She refused to see her father, who traveled to Thailand and expressed opposition to her resettlement.

“I am a candidate for president of the United States,” the 44-year-old Castro told a crowd in San Antonio’s historic Guadalupe Plaza, during a speech that frequently invoked the immigrant heritage that brought his family to the US from Mexico.

Often called a rising star in the Democratic Party, Castro, who was Obama’s housing secretary — and the youngest member of that cabinet — is expected to be part of a diverse field of candidates eager to challenge President Donald Trump.

At a time when the federal government has been partly shut down over Trump’s demand for funds to build a wall on the Mexican border, Castro sounded a contrasting message.

He said San Antonio, a city that is nearly two thirds Hispanic, “represents America’s future: diverse, fast-growing, optimistic.”

“Yes, we must have border security, but there is a smart and humane way to do it. And there is no way in hell that caging children is keeping us safe,” Castro said.

“We say no to building a wall and say yes to building community,” he added, to roars from the crowd.

Trump wants the border wall to block illegal immigrants he has sought to equate with crime, drugs and gangs.

“There is a crisis today — it’s a crisis of leadership. Donald Trump has failed to uphold the values of our great nation,” Castro said.

Urging his supporters to look around the blue-collar neighborhood where he grew up, Castro said, “there are no frontrunners that are born here, but… with big dreams and hard work, anything is possible in this country.”

– A brother in Congress –

He added that his grandmother Victoria would surely have been amazed when she arrived from Mexico in 1922 — she went on to work as a maid and a cook — had she known that one grandchild would end up in Congress and the other as a presidential candidate.

Castro’s twin brother Joaquin, who introduced him Saturday, is a congressman. The two rode to the event together on the same bus line that once took them to public school.

Julian Castro’s strong oratorical skills, experience in the Obama cabinet and as mayor of the nation’s seventh largest city, coupled with his charisma, could help propel him into the top tier of Democratic candidates.

Castro’s national profile rose sharply in 2012 when he became the first Latino to deliver a keynote speech at the Democratic national nominating convention.

A Latino candidate would be expected to generate enthusiasm among the country’s large and growing population of Hispanic voters, around two thirds of which supported Hillary Clinton in 2016.

But he would start out as one of the underdogs in a political showdown that may well feature heavyweights like former vice president Joe Biden, US senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, and perhaps even billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg.

Another Democrat, 37-year-old Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii — a lifelong surfer — announced Friday that she too will seek the party’s presidential nomination.

Castro is the third candidate with a Latino background to seek the presidency in recent years, after two Republicans — Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida — unsuccessfully faced Trump in that party’s 2016 primary campaign.

Tengku Abdullah Shah has replaced his father, Sultan Ahmad Shah as the ruler of Pahang state, the official Bernama news agency said, citing a senior palace official.

Local reports said the move was designed to pave the way for Sultan Abdullah to be chosen as the next king of Malaysia by the Council of Rulers, who will chose a new king on January 24.

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy with a unique arrangement where the national throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the country’s nine states. Pahang state is due to provide the next ruler.

The country was thrown into shock Sunday when reigning king Sultan Muhammad V abdicated unexpectedly after just two years of rule, following reports that he married an ex-beauty queen in Russia in November during a purported two-month medical leave.

The abdication was the first for the country since its independence from British rule in 1957.

Royal officials have not commented on the reported wedding, or said what condition prompted the former king to take the leave.

Sultan Abdullah Shah, 59, is a popular figure in the sports scene and is currently president of the Asian Hockey Federation and a council member of football’s world governing body, FIFA.

While their role is ceremonial, Malaysia’s royalty command great respect, especially from Malaysia’s predominantly Muslim Malays, and criticising them is regarded as offensive.

Portraits of the king and queen adorn government buildings throughout the country. The king is also the symbolic head of Islam in the nation, as well as the nominal chief of the military.

Malaysia’s sultans trace a lineage back to the Malay sultanates of the 15th century. The king is referred to as Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or “He Who Is Made Lord”.

The impasse has paralyzed Washington, with the president retaliating by refusing to sign off on budgets for swaths of government departments unrelated to the dispute.

As a result 800,000 federal employees — workers as diverse as FBI agents, air traffic controllers and museum staff — did not receive paychecks Friday.

The shutdown became the longest on record at midnight Friday (0500 GMT Saturday), when it overtook the 21-day stretch in 1995-1996, under president Bill Clinton.

Trump on Friday however backed off a series of previous threats to end the deadlock by declaring a national emergency and attempting to secure the funds without congressional approval.

“I’m not going to do it so fast,” he said at a White House meeting.

Trump described an emergency declaration as the “easy way out” and said Congress had to step up to the responsibility of approving the $5.7 billion.

“If they can’t do it… I will declare a national emergency. I have the absolute right,” he said.

Until now, Trump had suggested numerous times that he was getting closer to taking the controversial decision.

Only minutes earlier, powerful Republican ally Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted after talks with Trump: “Mr. President, Declare a national emergency NOW.”

But Trump himself acknowledged in the White House meeting that an attempt to claim emergency powers would likely end up in legal battles going all the way to the Supreme Court.

Opponents say that a unilateral presidential move would be constitutional overreach and set a dangerous precedent in similar controversies.

‘Under siege’

The standoff has turned into a test of political ego, particularly for Trump, who came into office boasting of his deal-making powers and making an aggressive border policy the keystone of his nationalist agenda.

Democrats, meanwhile, seem determined at all costs to prevent a president who relishes campaign rally chants of “build the wall!” from getting a win.

Both Democrats and Republicans agree that the US-Mexican border presents major challenges, ranging from the violent Mexican drug trade to the plight of asylum seekers and poor migrants seeking new lives in the world’s richest country.

There’s also little debate that border walls are needed: about a third of the frontier is already fenced off.

But Trump has turned his single-minded push for more walls into a political crusade seen by opponents as a stunt to stoke xenophobia in his right-wing voter base, while wilfully ignoring the border’s complex realities.

For Trump, who visited the Texas border with Mexico on Thursday, the border situation amounts to an invasion by criminals that can only be solved by more walls.

“We have a country that’s under siege,” he told the local officials in the White House.

Some studies show that illegal immigrants generally commit fewer crimes than people born in the United States, although not everyone agrees on this.

More certain is that while narcotics do enter the country across remote sections of the border, most are sneaked through heavily guarded checkpoints in vehicles, the government’s own Drug Enforcement Administration said in a 2017 report.

Concealed compartments

It said that most smuggling is done “through US ports of entry (POEs) in passenger vehicles with concealed compartments or commingled with legitimate goods on tractor trailers.”

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, said money should be spent on border security but not on walls.

“We need to look at the facts,” she said.

Separately, Puerto Rico’s governor urged Trump to not redirect emergency funds destined to the island instead for the border wall.

Ricardo Rosello’s plea followed reports the White House has asked the Army Corps of Engineers to look into ways to divert funds destined for natural disaster relief for the wall.

“No wall should be funded on the pain and suffering of US citizens who have endured tragedy and loss through a natural disaster,” Rosello tweeted Friday.

This includes, Rosello said, Americans in California, Texas, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and other places hit by natural disasters.

“Today it’s us, tomorrow it could be you,” he wrote.

In September 2017 Hurricane Maria tore through the US territory in the Caribbean, killing some 3,000 people, causing catastrophic material damage and crippling the island’s power grid for months.

India tops the list of Asian countries and also globally with parents taking education under serious consideration for the growth and development of their children. Parents in India dedicate around 12 hours per week to help children in their studies, according to the survey.

The survey report says better educated parents were more likely to spend some time every week helping their children with their education. Also, Asian households spend about 15% of their income on supplemental education services.

Vietnam follows India closely.

Vietnamese parents spend around 10.2 hours per week by helping children in their studies and homework. Indonesia comes third among Asian countries with parents spending 8.6 hours per week to help their children with education, followed closely by Malaysia ranking fourth in Asia and spending 8 hours per week to support the education of their children.

Singapore is ranked fifth among Asian countries where parents spend around 7.9 hours per week to help their kids in their studies.

China takes the sixth position among Asian countries where parents give 7.2 hours per week to help their children in their studies at home.

Japanese and South Korean parents spend far less time helping kids in their learning process, spending only 2.6 hours and 5.4 hours per week.