News Today

Japan to send disaster alerts via satellite
TOKYO - JAPAN, one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, launched a satellite-based alert system yesterday that will instantly send warnings on natural disasters to help local residents evacuate quickly, an official said. Japan experiences about 10 per cent of the... [Read more]

Bouquets
WHEELCHAIR HELP FOR WIFE AT AIRPORT MY WIFE and I had a comfortable flight on Indian Airlines from Chennai and landed at the Changi airport around 8.30pm on Jan 29. After stepping out from the plane we walked a distance in... [Read more]

Docs, nurses learn to break bad news better
NURSE Punasundri Thangaraju has met her share of patients weeping following a miscarriage or after learning they had cancer. Her usual response, which she thought comforting, was to tell them not to cry.Now, she knows it is better just to sit... [Read more]

Expanded curriculum: JC students coping well
JUNIOR college students who have come under the new expanded A-level curriculum since last year have generally coped well with it. About the same percentage of them passed their JC1 exams and started JC2 this year in most of the 10... [Read more]

Owner Magnusson fears West Ham could go down
LONDON - WEST Ham's chairman Eggert Magnusson has admitted for the first time that the club could get relegated. The Icelandic tycoon splashed &pound18 million (S$54 million) during last month's transfer window. He brought in six players in a desperate bid... [Read more]

Malaysia recalls 300 retired police officers
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA has recalled more than 300 retired police officers back to duty as the country faces a shortage of experienced law enforcement officials.The 337 retired officers - to be hired on a contract basis - will be tapped... [Read more]

Hu puts gloss on Africa policy
INITIALLY, Chinese President Hu Jintao's 12-day whirlwind tour of African states - which concludes this weekend - looked like many others: the usual courtship of countries rich in raw materials, and the usual protests from the West about Beijing's support for... [Read more]

Parliament sitting
PARLIAMENT will sit on Monday, Feb 12, according to a statement from the Clerk of Parliament.... [Read more]

'Terror groups may put bases in Thai south'
KUALA LUMPUR - THAILAND'S insurgency-wracked southern provinces are in danger of becoming a breeding ground for regional Islamic terrorism, Malaysia's Foreign Minister said yesterday. Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said terrorist groups could seek to build bases in Thailand's restive south,... [Read more]

YouTube post shouldn't trifle with religion
I WAS upset when I was forwarded a hyperlink to a sound file posted on YouTube by 'Ximiwakoz'.The recording, entitled 'RK House - No PORK', featured some boys who apparently visited a prata shop at Serangoon Gardens. They repeatedly asked for... [Read more]

Tiger Air plans to enter domestic market Down Under
SYDNEY - SINGAPORE budget airline Tiger Airways announced yesterday that it is planning to enter the Australian domestic market by year-end.Its chief executive Tony Davis said the airline had filed applications with Australian regulators and that the response from officials was... [Read more]