News Today

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]

Lefty weathers conditions to share lead
PEBBLE BEACH (CALIFORNIA) - THE conditions were the toughest 'Lefty' Phil Mickelson had faced in eight months. It was a day of survival, when it was important to keep the ball in play and keep the big numbers off the scorecard.... [Read more]

De La Hoya is prodded and provoked by brash challenger Mayweather
NEW YORK - FLOYD Mayweather pushed, prodded and provoked Oscar De La Hoya on Tuesday.It set the tone for what promises to be a bad-tempered world junior middleweight title showdown in Las Vegas on May 5. The match between De La... [Read more]

Nobel winner to form political party
NEW DELHI - THE only version of democracy known to Bangladesh has been a violence-prone contest between its two begums, or ladies as they are also known.The two, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, of the Awami League, and Begum Khaleda Zia, of the... [Read more]

From 3-room HDB flats to high-tech student hostels
TWO blocks of flats in Boon Lay, formerly home to foreign workers, are being turned into a hostel for students. The 200 three-room flats, located in the middle of a Housing Board estate in Boon Lay Drive built in the 1970s,... [Read more]

SMU law course: A case for higher fees?
STUDENTS who sign up for the new law course at Singapore Management University (SMU), with its corporate and commercial law emphasis, will have to pay $9,000 a year.SMU will enrol a pioneer batch of 90 law students.Their fee is $1,500 more... [Read more]

People on the move
SG PRIVATE BANKING NAMES EXEC DIRECTOR PHILIPPE THEYTAZ: Appointed as executive director and head of business development for Societe Generale (SG) Private Banking, a new position created for the wealth management arm of the SG Group in Asia, effective last Thursday.... [Read more]

School proves disabled can fit in
AT EVERGREEN Primary, Loh Jiawei is just one of the girls, the muscle-wasting disease that confines her to a wheelchair no barrier to learning. With help from an understanding and caring principal, teachers and schoolmates, the determined 11-year-old topped her Primary... [Read more]

Model sisters die within months of each other
TWO sisters in Uruguay, both models, have died of apparent heart attacks within months of each other - a family tragedy that came as the fashion world debates how to protect the health of painfully thin runway models. Eliana Ramos, 18,... [Read more]

Japan rips into author of book on Masako
TOKYO - THE Japanese government has demanded an apology from the Australian author of a new book accused of defaming the imperial family through its depiction of Crown Princess Masako, officials said yesterday. Written by Ben Hills, the book Princess Masako:... [Read more]

Flurry of good news on KL economy
IN KUALA LUMPUR - THE Malaysian government has brought out a range of positive data on the economy in recent days - strong growth, higher exports and surging investments - in an unusual flurry of good news. As Malaysian stocks rose... [Read more]