News Today

Iran faces more sanctions over nuclear programme
BERLIN - IRAN faces harsher United Nations sanctions following a report released by the UN nuclear watchdog yesterday that concluded it had expanded its uranium enrichment programme instead of complying with an ultimatum to freeze it.A 60-day deadline set by the... [Read more]

Wanted: S'poreans to develop the next YouTube or Skype
DAVOS (SWITZERLAND) - SINGAPORE needs to attract individuals with bright ideas who can develop the next YouTube or the next Skype, said Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. Dr Balakrishnan, who is also Second Minister for Information,... [Read more]

Seychelles' Rockers on training stint here
THEY are amateur basketballers from the African archipelago of Seychelles, known more for its tourism and fishing industries than the sport. But that has not stopped the Mont Buxton United (MBU) Rockers from forging ties with Singapore. The team are in... [Read more]

Carbon offsetting becoming good business
PARIS - HUNTING for a present for a pair of environmentally-sensitive newlyweds? Try this: a 'just married' voucher worth a few hundred dollars in carbon offsets. Smaller than a toaster but more meaningful, this piece of paper will compensate for about... [Read more]

Duo jailed, caned for fatal bashing at Marina South bar
TWO men who attacked another - who later died - at a Marina South bar last April have been handed jail terms and six strokes of the cane each. The victim, Mr Mohamed Salleh Tukiman, 38, was brutally beaten up at... [Read more]

Alan Leong poised to be first challenger for top HK job
HONG KONG - PRO-DEMOCRACY lawmaker Alan Leong has garnered enough support to launch a bid to challenge China-backed Chief Executive Donald Tsang, an official said yesterday.The source said Mr Leong had been promised enough nominations for his bid for the March... [Read more]

3 charged over wave of violence in Thai south
PATTANI - THAI security forces have arrested three men in connection with a wave of violence that left eight dead and 69 injured across the Muslim-dominated far south at the weekend. Southern Army commander Viroach Buacharoon told a news conference yesterday... [Read more]

Retirement planning low on S'poreans' priority list
MOST Singaporeans are prepared for short-term financial emergencies and big expenses such as their mortgage and children's education. However, such planning falls well short in other areas like retirement.Those were the key findings of a new survey on how ready people... [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]

Case file
MAN ACCUSED OF LYING DURING TRIALA 46-YEAR-OLD man was yesterday charged with two counts of giving false evidence at the trial of a lawyer two years ago.Part-time car washer Mohamed Ariffan Mohd Hassan allegedly lied at the trial of Mr Ratankumar... [Read more]

How a 5-star dream turned into a 3-star nightmare
BANGKOK - STRUCTURAL engineer Tortrakul Yomnak has been spending a lot of time lately gloomily sticking his fingers into cracks in the taxiways at Thailand's Suvarnabhumi International Airport. When he isn't doing that, he chases paper trails and studies contracts to... [Read more]

Taylor may be New Zealand's latest gem

GROUP C: New Zealand (3), England (7), Kenya (11), Canada

AS ONE of cricket's smaller nations, New Zealand has accepted that it will produce a world-class player only occasionally.

When one comes along - players such as Stu Dempster, Bert Sutcliffe, Martin Donnelly, Richard Hadlee or Martin Crowe - the arrival is cause for considerable celebration.

Ross Taylor (below) could be the latest.

He has spiced his first full season in international cricket with two impressive limited-overs centuries and several other innings of quality and significance.

He is an exciting player, a shot-maker, a fast scorer and, at 22, he has the time and the potential to become a player of considerable international stature.

When New Zealand players of greater international experience were failing in Australia this season, Taylor performed with consistency, becoming one of the leading scorers in the tri-nation series.

His innings of 89 and 117 in one-day internationals against Australia suggested a special talent and temperament.

Taylor's greatest asset may be the fact that he is unaffected by his steep rise to international prominence. He is laid back and seems mostly surprised to be competing with the world's best players.

He was richly applauded for his performances in the series in Australia, where he had the third-highest aggregate in round-robin play after Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden.

'I didn't think I played at my absolute best,' Taylor said. 'I learnt so many different things over there and I was probably a little bit disappointed with a couple of dismissals.'

One of his greatest abilities is his free-scoring and knack for generating, sustaining or increasing a run-rate at a crucial point of any innings.

He is a natural boundary hitter but he is also able to bat to a plan.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

News Today

Drowned man was keen on politics
MR SYED Abu Bakar Alsagoff, a businessman who wanted to stand as a candidate in several elections, drowned off a beach in Changi last week. The 65-year-old was found lying unconscious on Changi Beach, clad in trousers, by a member of... [Read more]

New Delhi to develop port in Myanmar
NEW DELHI - NEW Delhi will invest US$130 million (S$200 million) to develop Myanmar's Sittwe port that will give India's landlocked north-east access to a new trade route to South-east Asia, an Indian official said yesterday.'We signed an initial agreement recently... [Read more]

Why Somkid was picked to be economic adviser
DR SOMKID Jatusripitak's brief tenure as an economic adviser to the Thai government put the spotlight again on why he was appointed in the first place. Five possible reasons were offered by The Nation newspaper yesterday: He was brought in so... [Read more]

Tears from Best Player
NOH Alam Shah broke into tears as he spoke to The Straits Times moments after winning the Asean Football Championship in Bangkok yesterday. The joy of retaining the trophy, being named the tournament's Best Player, and being crowned Top Scorer with... [Read more]

No happy return for Iverson
SAN ANTONIO - THE San Antonio Spurs were happy to play at home again finally. Allen Iverson was happy just to be playing again. The Spurs returned home for the first time in more than three weeks on Tuesday night, and... [Read more]

Envoys told to rebut Thaksin
BANGKOK - THE Thai government has asked its diplomats to counter the comments made by deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in interviews with international news organisations.In a number of interviews with newspapers, magazines and TV channels - the latest being an... [Read more]

Enjoy the Chinese New Year shopping...
SOMEONE has 'received' a $1,000 hongbao ahead of Chinese New Year - and police would like to know who that pickpocket is. The victim, a festive shopper outside People's Park Complex, was about to pay a vendor at about 5pm on... [Read more]

To revive the kampong spirit, HDB has to put its ear to the ground and scrutinise its own heart
Good neighbourliness used to be a hallmark of flat-living. In my childhood home, a block of two-room flats, almost every unit housed three generations, with families numbering six or more. Everybody knew everybody.It was a tight squeeze physically, but the openness,... [Read more]

De La Hoya is prodded and provoked by brash challenger Mayweather
NEW YORK - FLOYD Mayweather pushed, prodded and provoked Oscar De La Hoya on Tuesday.It set the tone for what promises to be a bad-tempered world junior middleweight title showdown in Las Vegas on May 5. The match between De La... [Read more]

Covered walkways and air-con make for softies
THERE are more covered walkways at LRT stations and schools are being built in Punggol. Are we making life too comfortable? Surely, some rain and sun won't hurt, especially for the students?A covered walkway is a small matter. But is it... [Read more]

Floods cripple much of Jakarta
JAKARTA - MUCH of Jakarta was crippled yesterday as the worst deluge in five years cut road, rail and telecommunications links to the Indonesian capital. Three-quarters of the sprawling city of 12 million people was under water, and officials now face... [Read more]

Champions League

Tuesday

Chelsea 2

FC Porto 1

Chelsea win 3-2 on agg

Liverpool 0

Barcelona 1

Liverpool advance 2-2 on away goals

Lyon 0

Roma 2

Roma win 2-0 on agg

Valencia 0

Inter Milan 0

Valencia advance 2-2 on away goals

News Today

London move to extend road charge zone draws flak
LONDON - A CONTROVERSIAL charge on cars that enter the centre of the British capital has been extended to some of London's plushest districts - angering both residents and businesses. The ?8 (S$24) daily fee for drivers entering the city has... [Read more]

Clinic charged $42 for consultation over CNY
DURING the long weekend to celebrate Chinese New Year, an incident occurred which I feel I have to clear my doubts about.It happened that my grandmother had gastric flu and had to consult a doctor. As it was a public holiday,... [Read more]

Wenger wants Arsenal to go all the way to the final
LONDON - IF THEY beat PSV Eindhoven today, it would be another step for Arsenal towards purging the agony of losing last season's Champions League final.Leading 1-0 and reduced to 10 men after Jens Lehmann was red-carded, the Gunners succumbed to... [Read more]

I'm fitter than I look, says Williams
SERENA Williams has always been outspoken. And so it should come as no surprise that the newly crowned Australian Open champion did not mince her words when she was asked about her fitness. The American told Sports Illustrated's website: 'I feel... [Read more]

Almost all quake-hit cables fixed
BEIJING - CHINA'Sbiggest telecommunications companies have restored nearly all phone and Internet capacity that was affected by last month's earthquake near Taiwan, state media reported yesterday.China Telecom and China Netcom said major cables handling fibre-optic traffic, mostly between China and North... [Read more]

Online heroes
THEY might not have capes and costumes, or any superhuman powers to speak of. Yet, the Internet's superheroes have been making their mark in cyberspace. >From cleaning defaced wiki entries to protecting little ones from online predators and smut, these online... [Read more]

Wenger not keen on US pre-season circus
LONDON - ARSENAL may have become the latest English Premiership club seeking to exploit the American market.But manager Arsene Wenger will resist any publicity-seeking summer tour of the country, the kind that Manchester United and Chelsea have undertaken in recent years.... [Read more]

Ongoing legal battle
THE Beijing Zhonghongji Construction company successfully sued two developers for unpaid wages after building two workers' dormitories. But by then, both developers, including one owned by a central government agency, had gone bankrupt. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac)... [Read more]

More US aid and troops for Afghanistan
BRUSSELS - US SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice brought pledges of extra troops and aid for Afghanistan to Nato talks yesterday, and told allies they too must raise their game to see off the Taleban. But Washington's frustration at what it... [Read more]

Hog epidemic kills millions of pigs
BEIJING - WIDESPREAD hog disease in China has killed millions of pigs and spurred pork prices to an all-time high ahead of Chinese New Year, officials said yesterday.The highly-contagious disease, a variation of the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus, or... [Read more]

Where is the compassion for MRT accident victim?
I WAS on my way to work on Saturday morning when an accident happened in Clementi MRT station: A woman had her leg caught between the platform and the train which had just arrived. When I got out of the train,... [Read more]

News Today

Good manners campaign ahead of 2008 Games
BEIJING - BEIJING will kick-start a campaign to promote good manners ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games by introducing monthly 'queuing days' and raising the number of covered bins for disposing of spit. From this week, the city government will commend... [Read more]

Women who choose career over family: The risks
I refer to the report, 'Moving beyond the gender gap' (ST, Feb 2).Heleen Mees advocates the notion that the European economy would benefit much if women were to take on higher-ranking jobs in society, and therefore strongly encourages them to step... [Read more]

Pitching for the big one
UP FOR grabs is the national flag carrier's coveted account, estimated to be worth $50 million a year for five years, plus the chance to work on the Singapore Girl campaign, one of the best-known advertising icons in the world. In... [Read more]

Diamond ring does it for Baihakki
SOME girls are wooed with flowers, others with expensive dinners. But, when Singapore and Young Lions defender Baihakki Khaizan professed his love for girlfriend Norfasarie, an OSIM uZap slimming belt was his idea of saying 'I love you'. 'I was shocked.... [Read more]

Loan shark ring using hell money threats smashed
THE first bust has been made by police of a loan shark syndicate which harassed debtors with threatening letters accompanied by hell money, incense paper and sackcloth mourning patches.On Wednesday evening, eight men were arrested in the five-hour police operation. They... [Read more]

Japanese gangs call a truce after shootings
TOKYO - JAPAN'S two biggest organised crime groups have smoothed over a dispute after a fatal shooting that sparked fears of an all-out turf war in Tokyo, Kyodo news agency reported yesterday, quoting national police.Kyodo gave no further details of the... [Read more]

UN agency to regain control of N. Korea work
NEW YORK - THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has authorised its office in North Korea to take back control of its work from Pyongyang and cease hard currency payments to local staff and suppliers.The move followed fears that the North... [Read more]

'My ATM' feature a time-saver
I am surprised that some users find the new DBS ATM screens more difficult to use 'New ATM screen not user-friendly', (Online Forum, Jan 23) and 'Exasperating to make out options on new ATM screen' (Online Forum, Jan 25). I felt... [Read more]

Yuan rise 'appropriate'
Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan called the pace of the yuan's gains 'appropriate' at a weekend G-7 meeting. That prompted the biggest fall in a month yesterday, with the currency declining 0.11 per cent to 7.7562 against the US dollar in... [Read more]

News Corp nears deal for Chinese MySpace
SHANGHAI - NEWS Corp is finalising an agreement with partners to launch a networking website venture in China within a few months, venture capital and Chinese government sources said yesterday.The deal, if successful, would be a landmark step for News Corp,... [Read more]

Winner of top culinary contest accused of cheating
LONDON - THE culinary world is in an uproar, with allegations of cheating levelled against the winner of an annual contest among top chefs. Mr Fabrice Desvignes, 33, one of France's most promising young chefs, won this year's Bocuse d'Or, receiving... [Read more]

News Today

Seoul revamps policy on aid for refugees from the North
SEOUL - SOUTH Korea announced a new grants policy yesterday that rewards refugees from North Korea who find jobs but reduces settlement aid to new arrivals.The one-time settlement aid given to defectors from North Korea would be cut to six million... [Read more]

Top execs won over by services at luxury terminal
CHANGI Airport's luxury VVIP terminal has attracted a steady stream of mainly top-level executives and businessmen since opening last September. So far, more than 100 travellers and companies have signed up for membership in JetQuay, paying up to $1,000 a pop... [Read more]

Utd have to fight complacency
THERE is a sense that much of Manchester United's Champions League campaign has been about righting the wrongs of last season. That is certainly the case in their swift reunion with Lille. The unheralded French team defeated the Red Devils for... [Read more]

Dangerous to slow down to appease our neighbours
READING the report on the parliamentary debate about Singapore's relationship with its neighbours ('How to live with neighbours: Stay cool despite heated spats; ST, Feb 13), I was disappointed with what was attributed to Madam Ho Geok Choo. Although I do... [Read more]

The debate on biomedical research in Singapore
THE debate was sparked by an opinion piece by National Neuroscience Institute director Lee Wei Ling, headlined 'What ails biomedical research in Singapore?', published in The Straits Times on Nov 4, in which she wrote that in Singapore's push into the... [Read more]

Fund managers hail removal of 80:20 tax exemption rule
SMALL or 'boutique' fund managers in Singapore yesterday cheered the long-awaited removal of an unwieldy rule on tax exemptions for foreign investors.Under the rule, introduced in 2005, fund managers based here have had to ensure that at least 80 per cent... [Read more]

China tightens control over print media
HONG KONG - THE Chinese Communist Party's propaganda department has launched a points-based penalty system for the print media, a Hong Kong newspaper reported yesterday. The move is aimed at tightening control over the sector ahead of a crucial party congress... [Read more]

Window on new Vista
IT HAS been five years in the making, but Windows Vista has finally landed here. The new operating system has a snazzier interface and improved security, but all this comes at a price. Today's Digital Life gives you the lowdown on... [Read more]

Man United poised to set Ronaldo and Saha on Watford
LONDON - MANCHESTER United are ready to unleash goal-happy Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha when the league leaders take on bottom club Watford tomorrow.Last weekend's FA Cup ties mean a midweek programme for the top-flight clubs.United, with a six-point lead over... [Read more]

Bill to end forced marriages for Pakistani women
ISLAMABAD - PAKISTAN'S government introduced a Bill in Parliament on Tuesday seeking to end the forced marriage of women and girls, and allowing women to inherit property, officials said. The move by the party of President Pervez Musharraf came as part... [Read more]

Ray of hope for families with sick kids
WHEN a chronic illness hits a child, it also hits the family. Parents will worry for the child - if not also over the extra expenses - and siblings may have to grapple with losing a bit of the attention they... [Read more]

STI closes weaker for fifth straight trading session

AFTER the bloodletting earlier in the week, yesterday's slight dip in the market would have seemed like a minor flesh wound for battle-scarred investors.

The damage was a mere 13.84-point fall - just 0.4 per cent - leaving the Straits Times Index (STI) at 3,078.74.

It was the fifth straight day of losses but even combining yesterday's drop with Thursday's decline, the fall over two days was only 25.41 points. This is a fraction of the heart-stopping decline of 203.77 points, or 6.2 per cent, recorded on Tuesday and Wednesday.

But memories of Wednesday's meltdown clearly have not faded, with the STI opening 30 points lower at 3,062.29 yesterday.

The market showed some signs of rebounding, climbing to an intra-day high of 3,105.16 around noon, but soon gave up the recovered ground and spent most of the afternoon between 3,060 and 3,080.

Analysts say that while investors might have had a fright this week, the selldown was not surprising given the huge increases over recent months.

'Singapore's economic prospects remain sound. While everything on the ground seems to be in good shape, the big problem we have today is valuations,' said CIMB-GK research head Song Seng Wun.

'We see the recent correction as a valuation scare and not a change in fundamentals.'

Mr Song, who raised his year-end STI target from 3,080 to 3,400, noted that the benchmark index has risen 36 per cent since August last year and was trading at its peak of 17.6 times the price-earnings ratio on Tuesday.

Losers led gainers by 407 to 305 yesterday, with 2.15 billion shares worth $2.37 billion changing hands.

Developer CapitaLand lost 35 cents to $6.85, while Keppel Corp retreated 30 cents to $17.50. Singapore Exchange shed 25 cents to $6.50 and Singapore Land finished 15 cents lower at $9.20.

The top gainer was United Overseas Bank, which advanced 40 cents to $20.50, reversing Thursday's 30-cent loss.

The stocks of jewellery retailer Gems TV gained 17 cents, or 11.4 per cent, to $1.66 after its Thai subsidiary received an eight-year tax exemption on profit derived from jewellery production.

Jardine Cycle & Carriage shrugged off a 21 per cent drop in net earnings to US$223.8 million (S$342.1 million), to finish at $12.50, up 20 cents.

Hotel Properties rose 30 cents to $3.60 on speculation that the firm had won the bid to host Formula One motor racing in Singapore.

Most active were the stocks of casino operator Genting International, which rose 5.5 cents to 83 cents, after the company paid the final $605 million instalment to get construction under way for the Sentosa integrated resort. Volume was 142.2 million shares.

arthurp@sph.com.sg

News Today

How to live with neighbours: Stay cool despite heated spats
IN 2002, Shanghai authorities decided that the Shanghai Concert Hall was in too noisy a neighbourhood, no thanks to a nearby expressway. Seven months of planning later, in April 2003, the entire building was moved off its foundation. It was hoisted... [Read more]

Officials to look into Thai walkout before final
THE Asean Football Federation (AFF) will look into Thailand's walkout incident before Sunday's Asean Championship second-leg final. This was confirmed by Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad, AFF's head of delegation for the Singapore-Thailand first-leg final at the National Stadium on Wednesday.... [Read more]

Actor Fiennes in mile-high scandal
BRITISH movie star Ralph Fiennes (right) is at the centre of a mile-high sex scandal involving an Australian flight attendant, a report said yesterday.A 38-year-old Qantas stewardess has been suspended and could lose her job after fellow crew members allegedly spotted... [Read more]

Protests 'won't stop reforms in W. Bengal'
CALCUTTA - PROTESTS by angry farmers will not deter India's communists from razing farms to build factories in the country's east, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has said. His comments came hours after a policeman was killed by demonstrators near... [Read more]

Muslim outrage over Israeli excavation
JERUSALEM - EXCAVATION work by Israel near Jerusalem's sacred Islamic shrine has sparked anger among Muslims, and the Palestinians say it could derail peace in Gaza with the Jewish state. Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz is also said to have written... [Read more]

Disease leaves flood victim with brain damage
JAKARTA - AN INDONESIAN man has suffered brain damage and is unable to speak after being infected by a water-borne disease. Mr Sarnata, 61, and another person were diagnosed with leptospirosis or Weil's disease, a bacterial illness usually caught from contact... [Read more]

Flip side of foreign students topping exams
IT IS no surprise that almost half the 25 students who scored nine A1s are foreign students, in particular those from China ('Foreign students post strong O-level showing'; ST, Feb 10). Extrapolating from this trend, we can expect a similar figure... [Read more]

Watchdog wants to help sector bloom
WHEN he was asked in the middle of last year if he would take up the job of charities watchdog, Mr Low Puk Yeong agreed right away. Three months later, on Sept 1, he became Singapore's first full-time Commissioner of Charities.... [Read more]

Who will pay the extra cost for good governance?
IT HAS been a dramatic week for the charity sector, with lawsuits flying, governance probes unveiled, amendments to the Charities Act and not forgetting a police report made on Wednesday concerning an unauthorised deduction from the coffers of one organisation. Hopefully,... [Read more]

The big clean-up
Some Jakarta residents returned home yesterday as the waters receded after the rain. Besides salvaging what possessions they could find, most were busy cleaning the mess left behind: Tanah Abang resident Novianti, 27, sweeps away water trapped in her kitchen, while... [Read more]

Abe grilled over ministers' controversial remarks
TOKYO - JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his right-hand man were yesterday grilled over gaffes by two ministers who called the Iraq war a 'mistake' and women 'child-bearing machines'.The comments are giving Mr Abe a political headache when his support... [Read more]

Singapore Slut

All's fair game in the blogosphere - or is it?
KUALA LUMPUR - WHEN a manager of an Islamic insurance company sent an e-mail asking Muslim staff not to offer Deepavali greetings to Hindus last October, it quickly became the talk in this city.The diktat, a show of religious insensitivity, resulted... [Read more]

India okays merger of state-run airlines
NEW DELHI - INDIA'S two state-run carriers will merge to create a larger airline able to compete in an increasingly deregulated aviation market, officials said.Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters on Wednesday that a Cabinet panel has approved the merger... [Read more]

Viet PM chats with public online
HANOI - VIETNAM'S Prime Minister offered a rare glimpse into his family life and wartime past yesterday when he took online questions from the public in what the government billed as a show of openness. In Mr Nguyen Tan Dung's two-hour... [Read more]

Food, water and a question of stability
RAISING Singapore's population from 4.5 million to 6.5 million will also raise a host of issues that can pose a threat to stability. They include making sure there is enough food and water, that the environment is not damaged by pollution... [Read more]

Turning S'pore into global charities centre
CHARITIES based in Singapore will no longer have to race against time to spend funds they raise in order to qualify for an exemption from income tax.This was part of a Budget announcement designed to attract more global and local philanthropic... [Read more]

S'pore aims to be top choice for tricky liver transplants
TWO hospitals here are gearing up to do more adult-to-adult live donor liver transplants, in a push to become one of the top destinations in the region to offer this difficult procedure.At the moment, only Taiwan and Hong Kong have hospitals... [Read more]

Lions bask in the glow of instant fame
TWO days after taking Singapore into the final of the Asean Championship, the Lions are finding that fame has its privileges. As skipper Aide Iskandar and veteran right-back S. Subramani popped into a coffee-joint near their Amara Hotel base, they were... [Read more]

SME clinic
I WOULD like to set up my own business selling takeaway food with light cooking. I have been looking for a shop but can't find any that is suitable. Either the rental is too high ($2,000 per month and above) or... [Read more]

Prevent play from turning into pain
WATCH THEM Stay alert for signs of addiction, which can include spending long hours online and restlessness when away from the computer. ENGAGE THEM Offer children alternative, fun activities that they can do with you, like sports or camping. Do not... [Read more]

Visibility is important
VISIBILITY IS IMPORTANT'I think technology and the Internet makes working away from the office possible. But I don't think many work places will adopt this on a large scale in the short term. Most workers and employers think that visibility is... [Read more]

Ray of hope for families with sick kids
WHEN a chronic illness hits a child, it also hits the family. Parents will worry for the child - if not also over the extra expenses - and siblings may have to grapple with losing a bit of the attention they... [Read more]