News Today

Deal to end N. Korean nuclear crisis may be at hand
BEIJING - A CAUTIOUSLY optimistic US chief negotiator Christopher Hill said last night that a deal could be close that will see North Korea begin to end its nuclear weapons programme. Negotiators yesterday started going through a draft proposal outlining possible... [Read more]

Seven awards for SPH websites
SINGAPORE Press Holdings' (SPH) efforts to boost online content were recognised yesterday as it won seven awards given out by a company which monitors more than 800,000 websites around the world.Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao's website - which boasts more than four... [Read more]

Key factors
A MAYBANK spokesman said the main contributors to the strong performance were robust growth in both net interest income and non-interest income.Net interest income reflects what banks make from their core lending business and is dependent on how much they widen... [Read more]

Bush's final strategy for Iraq
Any outsider studying the developments in Iraq from American TV reports and print articles could never have predicted President Bush's decision on his final strategic move in Iraq. American opinion on the war became evident in November's congressional elections. The bipartisan... [Read more]

World Quickly
NEGROPONTE TO VISIT EAST ASIA WASHINGTON: US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte plans to visit Japan, China and South Korea soon, but will not go to North Korea, the US State Department said on Wednesday. State Department spokesman Tom Casey... [Read more]

Nowak fund-raiser slammed
AN ITALIAN restaurant has caused outrage by holding a dinner to raise funds for the family of a Nasa astronaut charged with attempted murder. About 70 diners attended the event on Sunday at Silvestro's restaurant in Cocoa Beach, Florida. It was... [Read more]

Passengers on train roof electrocuted
KARACHI - DOZENS of people sitting on the roof of a crowded train were by hit by an overhead power transmission line in Pakistan on Sunday. The accident killed at least 11 people and injured more than 40 others. Minister for... [Read more]

Under fire for calling women 'baby machines'
TOKYO - JAPAN'S health minister has come under fire after referring to women as 'child-bearing machines' in a speech on the country's falling birthrate. 'The number of women aged between 15 and 50 is fixed. Because the number of child-bearing machines... [Read more]

Philippines passes anti-terror Bill
MANILA - THE Philippine Congress has passed anti-terrorism legislation aimed at helping the government combat Al-Qaeda-linked militants.In a special session, the House of Representatives late on Monday approved a watered-down version of the Human Security Act passed by the Senate two... [Read more]

Planned missile shield triggers Russian wrath
WARSAW - A US proposal to base a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic has moved ahead with both countries indicating agreement, while a top Russian general warned the plan could lead Moscow to target the former allies with... [Read more]

Thais burn effigy of S'pore minister
BANGKOK - SOME 200 Thais yesterday burned an effigy of a Singapore leader outside the Republic's Embassy here in yet another protest following a diplomatic spat between the two countries. The protesters said they belonged to several groups, including Ramkhamhaeng University... [Read more]

Poor putting nearly breaks Mardan

THREE three-putts which led to three bogeys told the sad tale of Mardan Mamat's second round at the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters yesterday.

The defending champion was poised to surge up the leaderboard, as he played at Laguna's Classic Course, which is deemed easier.

But poor putting and a loss of concentration on the back nine almost resulted in Singapore's No 1 golfer missing the cut.

He shot a one-over-par 73 for a two-day three-under 141 total. He is joint-40th.

The cut was set at two under, as the record 204-man field at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club was trimmed to 71.

Said Mardan, who had a bright opening round at the tougher Masters Course: 'I'm tired. I don't want to talk about my round.

'It was a tough day at the office.'

Birdies on the fourth and 11th and 12th were undone by bogeys on the eighth, 13th, 14th and 16th.

That included three three-putts on the back nine.

He said: 'The greens were surprisingly faster today.'

No prizes for guessing where he went after his lunch break - the practice greens.

While the Singaporean struggled, India's Jyoti Randhawa took the lead at the half-way mark.

Sharp putting from the 2000 Singapore Open winner enabled him to card a 68 yesterday for a two-day total of 133.

Said Randhawa, who is expecting the birth of his first child within a month: 'It was a really windy and tough scoring day.

'The greens dried up and became hard, so it was tough to get it close. And, with the wind, it made it even harder.'

Despite the rough conditions, he fired birdies on the first, third, seventh and eighth Masters holes, before dropping a shot on the ninth.

Three more birdies, against two bogeys, on the final nine holes were enough for a one-stroke edge over Scotland's Barry Hume at the US$1.1 million (S$1.7 million) event.

Said Hume, who had a double bogey at the 17th: 'Overall, my game has been good, so I am not too worried.

'The goal was to make the cut, so now I can aim higher.'

Tied a further stroke behind on 135 is England's Gary Lockerbie and Malaysia's Iain Steel, gunning for his first Asian Tour win.

Said Steel, a Sabah-born player who lives in the US: 'I got into a good rhythm, hit a lot of short irons into the holes, and kept out of trouble.'

However, the same could not be said for most in the 204-man field.

A host of big names missed the cut, including world No 18 David Howell of England - the highest-ranked golfer in the tournament.

He was joined on the wayside by Wales' Ian Woosnam, Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, South Africa's Anton Haig and England's Lee Westwood.

Despite their exit, they obliged those among the 4,500 crowd who approached them for autographs.

Said Howell, a two-time Ryder Cup winner: 'No excuses - just rubbish golf. I've lost the plot at the moment.

'We're all good players, but we're just out of form.'

Added Haig, a crowd favourite who won last week's Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket: 'I had an absolute shocker.

'Last week took it out of me big time. I've been celebrating a bit so that hasn't helped my game at all.'

Said Clarke: 'Two days I've played very poorly.

'Why is that? If I knew, I wouldn't have played poorly, would I?'

alfoo@sph.com.sg

News Today

Thaksin's party loses 30 ex-lawmakers
BANGKOK - THE once-mighty party of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra suffered another blow yesterday as 30 former lawmakers resigned.They all represented the impoverished Issan region of north-eastern Thailand, a key base of support for Mr Thaksin, who styled himself... [Read more]

Living on the cliff's edge
PHOTO: AFP This aerial picture shows Cliff House perched precariously just 5m from the edge of the cliff in Happisburgh, a coastal village in Norfolk, England. The cliff once held a garage, several bungalows and a small road behind Cliff House,... [Read more]

Save the earth for current generation
I REFER to the letter, 'Air-con, covered walkways make life less of a drudgery', by Mr Ow Yeong Wai Kit (ST, Feb 7). While it is true that most of us would not want to compromise on our current standard of... [Read more]

The heat is on
Efforts to tackle global warming pick up steam WASHINGTON - ALL of a sudden, global warming is hot. After years of languishing on Capitol Hill, efforts to curb global warming have picked up momentum, powered by a growing bipartisan belief that... [Read more]

Man confesses to beer-can murders in Mumbai
MUMBAI - A 35-YEAR-OLD man has confessed to seven murders in India's financial hub.In all the cases, a beer can was found next to the bodies. Ravindra Kantrole reportedly confessed to the murders after being administered drugs in a so-called narco-analysis... [Read more]

Have checks in place to ensure broadband speed
I RECENTLY had SingNet Broadband 10Mbps installed and was surprised that my maximum download bandwidth was a mere 3Mbps. The installation technician was clueless so I had to call the SingNet helpdesk. During our conversation, the helpdesk technician tried to convince... [Read more]

Sports World
AUSTRALIA LOSE 2-3 TO BELGIUM LIEGE: Former Davis Cup tennis champions Australia lost 2-3 to Belgium in the first round of the World Group on Sunday.Lleyton Hewitt put the Australians on even terms when he won the reverse singles. But Chris... [Read more]

Lack of play shows in Baihakki's performance
IT WAS a chance for him to distinguish himself, but it seemed Baihakki Khaizan found Aide Iskandar's boots too large to fill. The 22-year-old stood in for the suspended Singapore captain in the Asean Championship semi-final second-leg victory over Malaysia.But, instead... [Read more]

Asean must maintain momentum: Arroyo
MANILA - AS THE Philippines prepares to hand over the Asean chairmanship in August, President Gloria Arroyo hopes there will be no let up in the grouping's aim to become an integrated community.President SR Nathan said yesterday that Mrs Arroyo made... [Read more]

Prosecution case against ex-steel tycoon stumbles
PUTRAJAYA - THE prosecution's case against the former head of Malaysia's national steel company has been dealt a crushing blow.The Sessions Court on Wednesday ruled that key evidence obtained against Tan Sri Eric Chia in Hong Kong was inadmissible at his... [Read more]

Stop new gas output, Japan tells China
TOKYO - JAPAN has asked China to halt any new production of gas from a field in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, says Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki. China has started supplying gas from the Chunxiao field to... [Read more]

News Today

What the deal is about
YESTERDAY, North Korea committed itself to a two-stage denuclearisation process under an agreement with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia. In the first stage - which must be completed within 60 days - Pyongyang will shut down its... [Read more]

Show sends wrong message to teenage girls
I question Channel 5's rationale for airing the TV programme, Girls Out Loud, which just ended its run on Monday. The show is fluff, with not much content. While the topics such as dating are tolerable, I feel that the final... [Read more]

A Hammers crisis as Liverpool win
LONDON - HOW far West Ham have fallen. Last season, it took a last-gasp equaliser from Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard to send the FA Cup final into extra time. On Tuesday, it was all too easy for the Reds as they... [Read more]

Companies in brief
COURTS SOUNDS PROFIT WARNING DUE TO THAI LOSSESTHE furniture and electronics retailer Courts (Singapore) issued a profit warning yesterday, flagging losses incurred by its operations in Thailand.The group said it expects to be in the red for the third quarter ended... [Read more]

Soccer Shorts
CHELSEA NEED MOURINHO, SAYS LAMPARDLONDON: Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard admits it is difficult to think about life without manager Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge. There have been suggestions that Mourinho will quit at the end of the season after falling out... [Read more]

Heat win on Wade's 24-point final effort
MIAMI - WITH less than eight minutes remaining, the Miami Heat were in a 12-point hole. And their superstar guard had already established a National Basketball Association record for the most turnovers in a game. 'I knew it had to get... [Read more]

China gives more room to foreign banks
SHANGHAI - CHINA is expected to allow another 20 foreign banks to incorporate locally this year, opening its massive banking market wider to foreign players and intensifying competition there.In December, Beijing granted approval for the first batch of nine foreign banks... [Read more]

Nine Al-Qaeda members among 11 held in France
PARIS - FRENCH police have arrested 11 terror suspects, nine of whom are believed to be members of Al-Qaeda who helped fighters join the ranks of Iraqi insurgents.The first arrests took place at Orly airport in Paris when two men were... [Read more]

Pension fund scam involved 20 top names
SHANGHAI - AT LEAST 20 officials and businessmen were involved in Shanghai's pension fund scandal, the government said yesterday, giving its fullest account yet of the scandal that rocked the city last year. Eleven party officials and more than 10 others... [Read more]

eSys lays off staff ahead of Teledata merger
POSTER boy entrepreneur Vikas Goel's eSys Technologies has laid off nearly one-sixth of its Singapore workforce, just before a merger with Chennai-based Teledata Informatics. eSys, one of the world's largest distributors of hard disks, said yesterday it has whittled down the... [Read more]

Some trash bins have drainage holes
I THANK Mr Sajeev Roy Dharan for his suggestion to have drainage holes in the design of trash bins so as to prevent water retention ('Drainage holes in trash bins to deter mozzies'; ST, Feb 5). Mr Dharan is correct in... [Read more]

News Today

Law firms move to keep young legal eagles
AT THE recent opening of the new legal year, Attorney-General Chao Hick Tin drew attention to the problem of Singapore's vanishing young lawyers. He referred to the number who drop out of practice each year, and said it might be an... [Read more]

Hosts Inter's poor defence allows Valencia to draw 2-2
MILAN - INTER Milan may be 14 points clear at the top of the Italian Serie A after 16 consecutive wins, but their Champions League hopes hang in the balance after a 2-2 home draw against Valencia. Inter's domestic domination counted... [Read more]

Thai court rejects ITV's request for fine injunction
BANGKOK - THAI television network ITV said a court has refused to consider its request for an injunction on 100 billion baht (S$4.3 billion) of fines, fees and interest it has been ordered to pay.Thailand's Supreme Administrative Court yesterday informed ITV... [Read more]

Sports World
VIETNAM PLAYERS JAILED FOR MATCH-FIXINGHO CHI MINH CITY: A Vietnamese court sent two former footballers to jail yesterday for fixing an international match. They also handed suspended prison sentences to six young players involved in the scam. All eight defendants were... [Read more]

West Ham heading south
LONDON - WEST Ham's battle for Premiership survival took a blow after a devastating defeat by rock-bottom Watford at Upton Park. Watford won 1-0, courtesy of Darius Henderson's first-half penalty on Saturday. West Ham could have earned a draw. But Marlon... [Read more]

Florida girl can't stop hiccuping
FOR more than three weeks, despite medical tests and home remedies, 15-year-old Jennifer Mee has been hiccuping. A lot. In fact, the teenager, who lives in Florida, is hiccuping close to 50 times a minute, stopping only when she sleeps. Jennifer... [Read more]

Crowds throng Istana open house
RECORD crowds roamed the Istana grounds yesterday, with more than 26,000 people passing through the gates of the President's official residence. Normally, around 15,000 to 16,000 people visit the grounds when it is open to the public during Chinese New Year,... [Read more]

Indian firms finding match with Western partners
NEW DELHI - A FLURRY of big-ticket cross-border acquisitions involving Indian companies over the past fortnight may amount to more than the US$29 billion (S$44 billion) that the deals were worth. Britain's Vodafone said on Sunday that it had offered US$11... [Read more]

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]

Operation to secure Baghdad will take time, says Bush
US PRESIDENT George W. Bush said yesterday that the new US-led effort to secure Baghdad was under way but warned it would be hard-fought and offered no speedy resolution.'The operation to secure Baghdad is going to take time, and there will... [Read more]

Tsang envisions HK as China's key financial hub
HONG Kong must continue to thrive as a financial hub and at the same time take steps to ensure that the rich-poor wealth gap does not worsen.These were among the key goals for the city's Chief Executive Donald Tsang, who launched... [Read more]

News Today

Roma's physical tactics upset Lyon
LYON have accused Roma of rough play during Wednesday's 0-0 Champions League match. 'It was quite a rough match with unfair behaviour by the Roma players,' said Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas, after the game in Rome. 'There was some verbal abuse... [Read more]

Charity listings
FAMILY FLAG DAY Charity group Focus On The Family Singapore, dedicated to strengthening families through family life education, is holding a flag day to raise funds.When: Today Where: Somerset, Woodlands, Outram, Pasir Ris and Jurong East MRT stations. VEGAS CHARITY GALAA... [Read more]

'Commitment by govts needed' to tackle region's water woes
ONE word - commitment - stood out as experts distilled the challenges ahead, on the second day of the Asia Pacific Water Forum's inaugural governing council meeting here. Only political commitment by leaders can result in policy action in tackling the... [Read more]

Why no new $10 polymer notes?
AFTER queuing for almost an hour at a POSB branch for its $500 Prosperity Pack, I was surprised to find that the new $10 notes were not of the polymer type, and the serial numbers were not in sequence. Has the... [Read more]

Taiwan V-P sends phone wishes to 1m
TAIWANESE Vice-President Annette Lu chalked up NT$300,000 (S$14,000) in phone bills sending out pre-recorded Chinese New Year greetings to one million voters.The 30-second phone message was sent randomly to people all over Taiwan through an automatic dialling system, cable news channel... [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]

Thousands march in US against Iraq war
WASHINGTON - TENS of thousands of anti-war protesters from around the country converged on the National Mall here on Saturday, galvanised by opposition to President George W. Bush's plan to increase the number of troops in Iraq. Protests attended by several... [Read more]

Anger boils over civilian killings for reward
NEW DELHI - HOPING against hope, Mr Ghulam Rasool Paddar watched police investigators unearth a body from under a grove of poplar trees in Indian Kashmir last week. Sobs shook his body as recognition struck. 'It's him, it's him,' the elderly... [Read more]

YouTube: Just how big a deal was that?
NEW YORK - EVERYONE suspected that the investors, founders and early employees of YouTube made tidy sums when the video- sharing site was acquired by Google for US$1.65 billion (S$2.53 billion) in stock late last year. But until Wednesday, few knew... [Read more]

BLVD unit sets record $3,205 psf price for Orchard Rd area
TWO homes in the Orchard Road area have sold at prices that have broken past records in the prime district.The Straits Times understands that a Singapore permanent resident has forked out more than $6.5 million for an apartment at The Boulevard... [Read more]

A season Liverpool want to forget
LONDON - NEXT season cannot come soon enough for Liverpool. Their slim chances of overhauling Manchester United dissolved in the rain after an embarrassing 1-2 Premiership defeat by Newcastle on Saturday. They are now 16 points behind league leaders United, with... [Read more]

News Today

Beijing manners improve, but not enough for Olympics
BEIJING - A CAMPAIGN to improve the manners of Beijing's queue-jumping residents ahead of the Olympics is showing results, although a gold-medal standard is still a long way off, state press reported yesterday.Incidents of littering, spitting, flouting of traffic rules and... [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]

Yeo meets S'poreans in Brunei
Foreign Minister George Yeo met Singaporeans living in Brunei at a reception yesterday hosted by the Singapore High Commission. Mr Yeo, who is visiting Brunei, will call on Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Crown Prince Haji Al-Muhtmadee Billah today. A Singapore Foreign... [Read more]

Picture-perfect smile
PHOTO: AP Visitors at a Beijing temple picking their favourite photo from a wall lined with smiling faces. Prizes will be awarded to the person in the winning picture and the photographer.... [Read more]

S'pore will take globalisation head on
GLOBALISATION has become such a dirty word in so many parts of the world that it was almost refreshing to hear Second Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam give his unflinching endorsement of the phenomenon. His message was simple and stark: Globalisation is... [Read more]

Stock market fever hits China's students
BEIJING - UNIVERSITY students on shoestring budgets have traditionally waited tables, flipped burgers at fast-food joints or taken on odd jobs to earn an extra buck. But recently, enterprising students in China are turning to a quicker, albeit riskier, way of... [Read more]

DPP's 'four heavenly kings' face graft probe
TAIPEI - FOUR leading members of Taiwan's ruling party, including Vice-President Annette Lu, will be investigated for corruption, a prosecutor's office said yesterday, a day after the head of the main opposition party was charged with graft. The prosecutor's office said... [Read more]

Woman sues club that suspended her over marital status
A WOMAN is suing her country club for suspending her membership because of a dispute over her marital status.Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) insisted its former vice-captain of the ladies' golfing sub-committee, Madam Kay Swee Pin, 53, was not legally married... [Read more]

More residents working for an income that has not changed for 10 years
I refer to the article, 'Singapore gearing up for 6.5m population' (ST, Feb 10).National University Sociologist Associate Professor Pauline Straughn said that Singapore needs to assure its people that growing the population will not result in more competition for jobs, housing... [Read more]

The Rupert Murdoch of Chinese media world
KUALA LUMPUR - HE HAS been dubbed the 'Rupert Murdoch' of the Chinese media world, but Malaysia's Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King is an incredibly publicity-shy individual. The Sarawakian tycoon has rarely given an interview - not even to newspapers in... [Read more]

Drawing the crowds at SMRT station
Auspicious Chinese couplets and paintings were given away free to SMRT passengers and shoppers at the Raffles Xchange mini-mall yesterday by artists from the Life Art Society (LAS). In the past three years, the society's giveaways have been held at SMRT... [Read more]