News Today

Threats can spring from 'rational' action
MR KOO Zhi Xuan made a valid point in asking whether we might not decrease the defence budget with circumspection to reallocate the funds to other needs ('Not slaughtering sacred cow but taking away some food'; ST, Feb8). It is the... [Read more]

Online scam artists luring many with 'highly paid jobs'
! SCAM ALERT 1: Letter full of spelling mistakes ! SCAM ALERT 2: Recruiter says: Send money first ! SCAM ALERT 3: Job in Britain but agency in Nigeria THE offer was tempting: £600 (S$1,791) a week to work as an... [Read more]

US economy gaining ground: Bernanke
WASHINGTON - THE United States economy is gaining momentum after a soft patch induced by a housing slump, but inflation remains the predominant concern, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress yesterday. Mr Bernanke, presenting the central bank's semi-annual monetary policy... [Read more]

Bellamy goes ballistic again
LONDON - CRAIG Bellamy is fighting for his Liverpool future after yet another shameful episode in his career. The Liverpool striker has been fined £80,000 (S$240,000) and read the riot act by manager Rafael Benitez after trying to beat up teammate... [Read more]

Getting a warm reception
One year into the job, Four Seasons Hotel's Karene Lim has made a splash internationally - as the world's No. 1 receptionist. Miss Lim, 21 and fresh out of Temasek Polytechnic, beat 11 of the world's best front-desk staff to win... [Read more]

Kreta Ayer Centre tops charity vote
TIGER Beer has donated more than $40,000 to three charities, as part of the brewery's Golden Wish Promotion launched on Jan 12.During the month-long promotion, Tiger invited the public to vote for the charity they supported most out of three -... [Read more]

Rumours of US plot hurt Pakistan's polio vaccine drive
PESHAWAR - THE parents of 24,000 children in north-west Pakistan have refused to give them polio vaccinations, mostly due to rumours that the vaccinations are a US plot to sterilise them. Government and UN agencies have asked Muslim clerics in the... [Read more]

Selling Singapore: Stories from the EDB trenches
MR KO Kheng Hwa, the managing director of the Economic Development Board (EDB), shares stories from the frontline in the battle for multinational investments: Wooing Shell with tenacity IT TOOK 'generations' of EDB officers to persuade petrochemical giant Shell to invest... [Read more]

Grit in air harmful to older women's hearts
BOSTON - THE fine grit in polluted air raises the risk of heart disease in older women much more powerfully than scientists realised, a big US-funded study has found.The study results have, in turn, raised questions of whether US environmental standards... [Read more]

Comedian not joking about Senate race
COMEDIAN Al Franken, known for his lacerating satire of the American right, discarded his customary wisecracks as he announced soberly that he would run for the US Senate. In a video posted on his website on Wednesday, there were no gags... [Read more]

Lost Thai mother found, thanks to a simple song
DUSONGYO (THAILAND) - A THAI mother who was lost for 25 years after catching the wrong bus home has spoken of her ordeal after being reunited with her family, thanks to a simple song. The last time Ms Jaeyaena Beuraheng saw... [Read more]