News Update

Umno to street racers: Catch 30 thieves, get a free bike
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA's main party in the ruling coalition has volunteered to help curb street crime, offering new motorbikes to gangs of illegal street racers if they spend their time catching thieves instead. The chief of Umno Putera, the party's... [Read more]

Iran turns missile into satellite launcher
TEHERAN - IRAN has converted its most powerful ballistic missile into a satellite launch vehicle, a move that could herald a new dimension in Teheran's strategic capabilities, according to Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine. A recently assembled 30.5-tonne ballistic missile-turned-space... [Read more]

S'pore 'puzzled' by report on extradition deal
SINGAPORE is a 'little puzzled' by a Jakarta Post report which said that Indonesia and Singapore had moved closer to signing an extradition treaty.The report on Tuesday quoted Indonesia's chief negotiator Arif Havas Oegroseno as saying the two countries had agreed... [Read more]

Eng Hen in NZ to boost defence ties
SECOND Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen left last night for New Zealand to strengthen ties between the two countries' armed forces.The Ministry of Defence noted in a statement yesterday that the two forces already enjoy regular and extensive interaction through... [Read more]

Concern over long-term effects of paid transplants
I refer to the letter, 'Don't ignore organ transplant beneficiaries' (ST, Feb 5), by Mr Wah June Hwang in reply to my letter.Mr Wah may have missed my point. My concern is about the long-term effects of paid transplants more generally.... [Read more]

Men who attacked HK pro-democracy legislator jailed
FOUR men who attacked Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho in a McDonald's restaurant last year have been jailed.Mr Ho was clubbed using wooden batons at the crowded restaurant in the central business district in August last year in a case that... [Read more]

Usage rate of chip plants slumps
TOKYO - THE utilisation rate of the world's semiconductor plants fell to its lowest in seven quarters at the end of last year on weak demand for logic chips, said an industry group.However, one analyst predicted an uptick from April as... [Read more]

Tycoon jailed for embezzlement
THE former head of China's leading sports beverage manufacturer, and until recently a member of the Forbes China Rich List, has been jailed for 15 years for embezzlement.Zhang Hai, the ex-president of the Jianlibao Group, was convicted by a court in... [Read more]

Going the extra mile
PAYA Lebar Airport hit a space crunch not long after its opening in 1955. Mr Bernard Chan, now CAAS assistant director for estate management, remembers well the flights that took Muslim pilgrims to Mecca. Going on the haj was a red-letter... [Read more]

Ailing Castro still has fight in him
CUBAN state television has shown footage of Dr Fidel Castro for the first time in three months, and the ailing leader said he was still in the fight to recover from surgery that forced him to relinquish power last July. The... [Read more]

Wi-Fi thief's sentence lauded as 'practical'
BY SENTENCING a teenager to 18 months' probation and an accompanying Internet ban for piggybacking on his neighbour's wireless connection, the Community Court sent a clear signal that the teen's actions were wrong but not serious enough to warrant jail time,... [Read more]