News Today

Genting still being quizzed on tie-up with Stanley Ho
SINGAPORE'S casino regulators have confirmed that they are continuing to seek 'clarification' from the Genting group over its links with Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho. The 84-year-old has been associated with the Chinese underworld, although nothing has ever been proven against... [Read more]

Beckham yet to find a house in LA
THE Beckhams are struggling to find a suitable mansion in their future hometown of Los Angeles.They are looking at more than 20 homes in the US$18 million (S$27.6 million) to US$30 million range, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday. David... [Read more]

Tougher clean-air rules for oil industry
BRUSSELS - EU REGULATORS plan stricter clean-air rules for oil companies, bolstering an environmental campaign that also targets carmakers. The Brussels-based European Commission aims to force the petroleum industry to cut emissions of gases blamed for global warming by 1 per... [Read more]

Thai panel to probe phone-tapping claims
BANGKOK - THAILAND'S military-appointed government is setting up a panel to investigate allegations of eavesdropping on its telecommunication lines. The move came a week after Thailand's army chief accused Singapore of spying on its military phone conversations. In a spiralling diplomatic... [Read more]

More market volatility likely ahead of Fed meeting
VOLATILITY'S the buzzword this week as money managers and investors alike try to make sense of the huge array of economic data and corporate earnings due out in the next few trading sessions.While stocks, led by banking and property issues, generally... [Read more]

Contest draws youths to total defence
A FEW months ago, 15-year-old Thakshayeni Skanthakumar thought that the Total Defence campaign was only about military stuff - soldiers, tanks and the like. But now she speaks animatedly about how it teaches Singaporeans of 'all races to come together as... [Read more]

Minimum Sum exemption rules
I REFER to the letters, 'Minimum Sum not needed here' (ST, Feb 9) by Mr Tan Kai Kiat, who asked to be exempted; and 'Be more flexible on CPF Minimum Sum' (ST, Feb 5) by Mr Raymond Lee, who suggested his... [Read more]

Bus blasts kill three in Lebanon day before Hariri rally
AIN ALAQ - BOMBS exploded on two buses in a Christian area of Lebanon yesterday, killing at least three people and wounding 20.The attack came on the eve of the second anniversary of the killing of former prime minister Rafik Hariri... [Read more]

Recall Beckham? Experts can't agree
BY LEONARD LIM - DAVID Beckham's sizzling form in Spain has caused ripples in England. The big question: Should England coach Steve McClaren, who dropped the player said to be the world's best crosser last year, welcome him back to the... [Read more]

Laver calls Federer the best he's seen
MELBOURNE - IF HE could pick any player from any era to test himself against, Roger Federer (left) would like a shot at Rod Laver or Bjorn Borg. Laver is the last man to win the Grand Slam - all four... [Read more]

Give bus drivers right of way to exit bay
I REFER to the article, 'Bus bays may be axed to help cut travel time' (ST, Feb 13).I think this will have the reverse effect as it will block traffic not only for cars behind the bus at the bus stop... [Read more]

La Liga

Today

Levante v Villarreal
Live, Ch22, tomorrow, 2.55am

Barcelona v Real Madrid
Live, Ch22, tomorrow, 4.55am



Tomorrow

Celta Vigo v Athletic Bilbao

Getafe v Recreativo Huelva

Gimnastic v Sevilla

Racing Santander v Espanyol

Real Betis v Real Zaragoza

Real Sociedad v Real Mallorca

Atletico Madrid v Deportivo La Coruna

Osasuna v Valencia
Live, Ch22, Monday, 3.55am

News Today

Union warns of strike if old Thai airport reopens
BANGKOK - A MAJOR union of airline workers has threatened to go on strike if the Thai government goes ahead with the reopening of Bangkok's old international airport. The warning came yesterday as a government-appointed safety panel said the new Suvarnabhumi... [Read more]

Howard and Obama in war of words
SYDNEY - AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister John Howard found himself at the centre of a political storm yesterday after criticising US presidential hopeful Barack Obama over his plans to pull troops from Iraq. The conservative leader earned a stinging rebuke from the... [Read more]

Liable for interest accumulated during National Service stint
National service is every able-bodied male Singaporean obligation to serve and contribute to the nation's security. Likewise for education, a learning journey, where one can contribute to the nation's economy. I laud the Government's initiative to help post-secondary school leavers to... [Read more]

Bringing cheer to young parents
AROUND 500 children, including cancer patients and their siblings, received TY Beanie Bears and goodie bags filled with toys and snacks this week - a joint gift from Tangs and the Viva Foundation for Children with Cancer.About 300 children were presented... [Read more]

US consumer spending rises 0.7%
WASHINGTON - PERSONAL spending in the United States jumped in December by the most in five months, and a measure of inflation monitored by the Federal Reserve rose less than forecast.The 0.7 per cent rise in purchases followed a 0.5 per... [Read more]

Study to find out if masks keep flu at bay
ANN ARBOR (MICHIGAN) - HUNDREDS of university students here are taking part in a study that could change the way the world looks at flu. They walk around the campus wearing surgical masks as part of a test to see if... [Read more]

Ex-VW executive to pay hefty fine for bribery
FORMER Volkswagen executive Peter Hartz has been given a two-year suspended jail term and a hefty fine for his role in a bribery scandal involving lavish holidays and prostitutes. Hartz, the architect of extensive German labour market reforms and the former... [Read more]

MediShield basic coverage continues in any upgrade
IN THE letter, 'Should man upgrade his medical insurance?' (ST, Jan 20), Ms Nelly Yanty asked if someone who had a medical condition should upgrade to a different Shield plan. For all Medisave-approved integrated Shield plans, there are two components. The... [Read more]

No. 1 killer of women? Most here don't know
THE majority of women in Singapore are not aware of what the top cause of death is among women here.They are not even able to name the important risk factors of women's No. 1 killer, heart diseases and stroke.These were some... [Read more]

Parliament Shorts
INCOME CEILING: HDB TO BE FLEXIBLE INCOME ceilings are still needed for purchases of subsidised Housing Board flats, but HDB will be flexible if families are in difficulty, said Minister of State (National Development) Grace Fu yesterday.Income ceilings help ensure that... [Read more]

Top Colombian minister quits
COLOMBIAN Foreign Minister Maria Consuelo Araujo has resigned abruptly, days after her brother, a senator, was arrested for allegedly funding right-wing paramilitary squads.'I have made my decision, and I am leaving government,' she told reporters. 'I am leaving for one reason:... [Read more]

News Today

Govt agency helps 22,000 find new jobs
ABOUT 22,000 people found jobs last year with help from the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), a government body that develops training programmes.Most were older and low-skilled workers. Some of them snagged better-paying jobs through the Job Re-creation Programme, which reinvents low-end... [Read more]

Pakistan orders probe into suicide bombing near Shi'ite centre
PESHAWAR (PAKISTAN) - PAKISTAN yesterday ordered a federal investigation into a suspected suicide bombing that killed 15 people, including a police chief and other officers, and beefed up security in this north-western city. It was the second such attack in two... [Read more]

Real defenders speak up for Becks, Ronaldo
MADRID - REAL Madrid defenders Ivan Helguera and Michel Salgado leapt to the defence of out-of-favour teammates David Beckham and Ronaldo on Wednesday. 'Ronaldo's one of the best in the world, if not the best. I don't think it's fair, the... [Read more]

Roma's hopes rest on an improved performance
ROME - IF ROMA want to progress in the Champions League, they will have to play better than they did last Saturday.Then, they produced one of their worst performances in recent times in their 0-1 loss to Empoli.The result left them... [Read more]

Cold wave disrupts travel in Britain and US
LONDON - BRITAIN was hit by travel chaos yesterday with much of the country covered by a thick blanket of snow during the morning rush-hour. There were delays on railways and roads, and airports were forced to close as snow and... [Read more]

Cosco's profits up 28% to record $205m
CHINESE shipping group Cosco has posted a 28 per cent hike in profit to a record $205.4 million as turnover surged 39 per cent to $1.22 billion. The strong performance for the year ended Dec 31 came as the company repaired... [Read more]

CapitaLand earns $40m from sale of office space
CAPITALAND has sold all its entire interest in the Samsung Hub office block to two different buyers for a gain of $40 million.The entire divestment of space in the central business district building amounted to $152.9 million.Property company Ho Bee Development... [Read more]

Stall assistant's jail term for bomb hoax quadrupled
A STALL assistant who triggered a massive police search after falsely claiming to have overheard a plot to bomb Clementi MRT station, yesterday had his sentence quadrupled by the High Court. Ariff Mohamed, 25, will now have to serve two years... [Read more]

Minister doubts eavesdropping claims
THAI Minister of Information and Communication Technology Sittichai Pokai-udom has cast doubts on the junta's claims that Singapore was eavesdropping on Thai military conversations.In an interview on a Thai-language TV talk show, Siam This Morning, on Tuesday, Mr Sittichai said eavesdropping... [Read more]

Malaysian paper blames S'pore for Johor floods
KUALA LUMPUR - THE finger-pointing at Singapore over the Johor floods is not over yet.Three days after Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman sought to pin the blame on the land reclamation on Pulau Tekong for causing Johor's worst floods in... [Read more]

'Judge erred', so housewife cleared of hurting maid
A HOUSEWIFE, originally sentenced to 15 months' jail for hurting her maid, yesterday walked out of court a free woman after the High Court overturned her conviction. Justice V.K. Rajah, in acquitting Madam Sakthivel Punithavathi, 32, said that the district judge... [Read more]

News Today

China's power shortage woes easing
BEIJING - AFTER four years of power blackouts and fuel shortages, China will have enough coal, oil and electricity to meet its ravenous demand for energy this year, said the country's economic planning agency.However, transporting the coal and oil to power... [Read more]

Woods reminded of losses before Matchplay
MARANA (ARIZONA) - TIGER Woods ran into one player and got two reminders. He was moving along the gallery during a practice round on Monday, his first look at a new course for the Accenture Matchplay Championship, starting today. He is... [Read more]

Great White Sharks Attack!
Overhead on a coffee table conversation: Great White Sharks!... [Read more]

Seoul pardons tycoons 'to boost economy'
SEOUL - SOUTH Korea yesterday announced pardons for more than 430 convicted business leaders and politicians in an attempt to reinvigorate the economy 10 years after the Asian financial crisis. The list agreed at a Cabinet meeting includes Park Yong Sung,... [Read more]

Body formed to help make doing business in KL easier
KUALA LUMPUR - A HIGH-profile task force set up to find ways to make Malaysia more business-friendly has been given six months to deliver.Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said on Thursday that he wanted to see some form of achievement within six... [Read more]

Israeli President's impeachment hearing begins
JERUSALEM - ISRAELI lawmakers yesterday began impeachment proceedings against President Moshe Katsav, who faces indictment for rape and sexual harassment.Parliament's House committee launched its debate on the future of the embattled head of state yesterday, but no immediate decision was expected,... [Read more]

CapitaLand earnings exceed $1b level
ANOTHER year, another record profit for property giant CapitaLand, which reported yesterday that full-year net earnings had jumped 35.6 per cent to $1.02 billion. The booming high-end residential market here helped power the company to its third record result in as... [Read more]

India's Essar rules out selling out of Hutchison joint venture
MUMBAI - INDIA'S Essar Group has no plans to sell out of Hutchison Essar, increasing the pressure on Britain's Vodafone to come up with a workable shareholder arrangement with the company that could end up being its main partner in India.... [Read more]

Turning sewage into drinking water
HOW IS WASTE WATER RECYCLED? A combination of reverse osmosis and disinfection with ultraviolet radiation is the most common method. In reverse osmosis, water is forced through very fine membranes that filter out salts and other matter, but let water molecules... [Read more]

Jakarta top cop wants ISA-style anti-terror law
WASHINGTON - INDONESIAN national police chief Sutanto has called for tougher laws to fight terrorism, suggesting that Jakarta adopt the Internal Security Act (ISA) that is in place in Singapore and Malaysia.He said that current legislation impeded investigations.'We need something like... [Read more]

Chance for non-Hindus to learn about Thaipusam
NON-HINDUS will have a chance to soak up Hindu culture in the run-up to the Thaipusam festival on Thursday. This year, for the first time, the Hindu Endowments Board will run a public education drive on cultural, educational and spiritual elements... [Read more]

News Today

India to set up aerospace defence shield
NW DELHI - INDIA will set up an aerospace defence command to shield itself against possible attacks from outer space, officials said.The announcement came three days after Russia backed India's response to a Chinese satellite-destroying missile test that demanded a 'weapons-free... [Read more]

Mayor admits affair with top aide's wife
CONFRONTING a political scandal that sounds more like a soap opera, San Francisco's handsome young mayor has made an emotional apology for an affair with the wife of his campaign manager. 'I want to make it clear that everything you've heard... [Read more]

Russian and Qatar groups join Hinduja's bid for Essar
MUMBAI - INDIA'S Hinduja Group has teamed with Qatar Telecom and Russia's Altimo in its bid for control of fourth-biggest Indian mobile operator Hutchison Essar, newspapers said yesterday. Hinduja, with Qatar Telecom and Altimo, have submitted a 'binding bid' for the... [Read more]

Matilda 'thought of settling from 3rd day of suit'
SHE may have thrown in the towel only yesterday, but former NKF director Matilda Chua, widely regarded as Mr T.T. Durai's number two, had been thinking 'settlement' as early as three days into the suit, her lawyer said yesterday. That was... [Read more]

INSIDE SCOOP on gelato business
WHAT on earth does an engineer know about ice cream? Well, here's the scoop from Mr Michael Koh - it tastes good and there is a dollar or two to be made out of it. The engineer with a sweet tooth... [Read more]

Call to let Chinese Muslims build own mosques
KUALA LUMPUR - THE Perlis mufti, who has created waves with his non-traditional interpretation of Islam, has said that Malaysia should allow Chinese Muslims to build and run their own mosques.Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said it was unfair of state... [Read more]

Kim Jong Il turns 65, with no successor in sight
SEOUL - RAINBOWS fill the sky and frost flickers like fireworks as North Korea prepares for the birthday of its 'Dear Leader', who is reaching an age when many retire, yet is reluctant to name his successor. Mr Kim Jong Il... [Read more]

Ronaldinho scores twice in Barca win
MADRID - AFTER a series of subdued performances, Ronaldinho showed a return to form when he struck twice on Sunday.The Brazilian striker, who has been criticised for his poor showings in recent games, scored both goals in Barcelona's 2-0 victory over... [Read more]

Help sibling and win tax relief
YOU will soon be rewarded for extending a helping hand to your brother and sister.Those who use cash to top up the Central Provident Fund (CPF) retirement accounts of their siblings will now be allowed to claim tax relief of up... [Read more]

Hammers chairman backs Curbishley '100 per cent'
LONDON - WEST Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson has given his '100 per cent backing' to manager Alan Curbishley, insisting there is no deadline for him to turn the club's fortunes around. The Icelandic businessman has been infuriated by reports that he... [Read more]

Movie pirates hit hard in 12-nation blitz
OPERATION Trident, a two-month blitz on big-time movie pirates that involved 12 countries across the Asia-Pacific, has dealt a blow to the bootleg industry.Almost five million discs were seized in all, in the past two months. Some 870 arrests from Beijing... [Read more]

News Today

Rooney, McLoughlin almost split
LONDON - WAYNE Rooney has trouble getting out of bed, watches soap operas and cannot get enough of football - he will even watch a Chinese match on television.However, the most interesting titbit his fiancee Coleen McLoughlin revealed in her book,... [Read more]

Three advisers appointed for divestments
JTC Corp has appointed three banks to advise it on its planned property sales, which include a billion-dollar industrial property trust.Singapore's largest industrial landlord yesterday named DBS Bank as well as global investment banks UBS and Goldman Sachs as advisers on... [Read more]

Liverpool need to keep on winning
LIVERPOOL - IT IS no use beating Chelsea, and then losing to West Ham. Liverpool scored a morale-boosting 2-0 victory over Premiership champions Chelsea last week, and moved to within five points of the second-placed Blues. However, manager Rafael Benitez says... [Read more]

Kim's son on way home for birthday bash
SEOUL - THE eldest son of North Korea's leader has left his residence in Macau and is travelling to Pyongyang for his father's 65th birthday, South Korean media reported yesterday. Mr Kim Jong Nam, 35, son of Mr Kim Jong Il,... [Read more]

Just fix it
Just fix it WHEN Changi Airport staff found a pothole in the runway one day in the 1980s, then permanent secretary of the Ministry of Communications Sim Kee Boon, who had taken on the mammoth task of building Changi Airport, went... [Read more]

Govt agency helps 22,000 find new jobs
ABOUT 22,000 people found jobs last year with help from the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), a government body that develops training programmes.Most were older and low-skilled workers. Some of them snagged better-paying jobs through the Job Re-creation Programme, which reinvents low-end... [Read more]

Chicks are Us!
What it should have beenThe table of unit trust prices published in page H16 in the Money section yesterday was inaccurate. The correct version is published today.... [Read more]Long drive aheadThe lighted ceiling of the Zhongnan Mountain Tunnel is part of... [Read more]

Kim Jong Il turns 65, with no successor in sight
SEOUL - RAINBOWS fill the sky and frost flickers like fireworks as North Korea prepares for the birthday of its 'Dear Leader', who is reaching an age when many retire, yet is reluctant to name his successor. Mr Kim Jong Il... [Read more]

Nets facing competition from debit card schemes
I REFER to the article, 'Dialogue to discuss higher Nets charges' (ST, Feb 9). Nets was founded 22 years ago by the nation's leading financial institutions to give Singaporeans a convenient and reliable mode of electronic payment. Beyond its mission to... [Read more]

One Ronaldo leaves Madrid...
MILAN - RONALDO'S farewell to Real Madrid did not include fond words for coach Fabio Capello. The World Cup's most prolific striker left the Spanish giants for AC Milan on Tuesday. He cost the Italian Serie A side &pound5 million (S$15... [Read more]

First Chinese player in Champions League
EINDHOVEN - THE first Chinese player to appear in the Champions League is sure he will not be the last. Sun Xiang predicted that more of his countrymen will take part in Europe's top club tournament. China's international defender played for... [Read more]