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]