News Today

T-bird lands here Top US business school sets up office
T-BIRD may be a name Singaporeans are familiar with only from the Grease movies of the 1970s and 1980s. But those in business academia and human resource circles here welcome the presence of the American business school, Thunderbird, in Singapore.Thunderbird -... [Read more]

Higher parking fees for bigger cars
LONDON - RESIDENTS of a suburban London district will soon pay annual parking fees based on how much carbon dioxide their cars emit, penalising owners of gas guzzlers. Richmond Council, in west London, agreed on Monday to levy a sliding scale... [Read more]

Festive death toll on roads hits 64
KUALA LUMPUR - MORE than 60 people have died on Malaysia's roads despite a safety blitz ahead of Chinese New Year this weekend. Malaysian police said 64 people have been killed in accidents in the four days since the launch of... [Read more]

Officials to look into Thai walkout before final
THE Asean Football Federation (AFF) will look into Thailand's walkout incident before Sunday's Asean Championship second-leg final. This was confirmed by Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad, AFF's head of delegation for the Singapore-Thailand first-leg final at the National Stadium on Wednesday.... [Read more]

Pain fails to keep Ridhuan out
MUHAMMAD Ridhuan could have run all night on Saturday if he had to. Such was the adrenalin rush that the 22-year-old winger felt after scoring Singapore's equaliser in the 75th minute. But he lasted barely another minute on the field after... [Read more]

$30m Safra club in Jurong by 2009
THEY are already in the north, south, east and central districts. Coming next: a Safra club in the west. When completed by early 2009, the $30 million Jurong West Safra - themed a 'family playground' - will boast the largest indoor... [Read more]

Rules eased to get more foreign docs here
THE door has been opened wider to foreign doctors, as Singapore moves towards a new goal of having one doctor per patient in public hospitals.The public sector currently employs 3,156 doctors, which translates to one doctor for every two patients at... [Read more]

All that jazz and art from HK
BIG band music from Hong Kong's Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra filled the air last night, as an arts showcase called Spotlight Hong Kong kicked off at The Arts House. Part of the city's arts exchange with Singapore, it is a sister... [Read more]

Brokerages beefing up corporate finance teams
BROKERAGES are beefing up their corporate finance outfits in a bid to win some of the lucrative IPO business that has traditionally gone to foreign investment banks. The red-hot stock market coupled with the stream of new China initial public offers... [Read more]

Help sibling and win tax relief
YOU will soon be rewarded for extending a helping hand to your brother and sister.Those who use cash to top up the Central Provident Fund (CPF) retirement accounts of their siblings will now be allowed to claim tax relief of up... [Read more]

Mortar attack on Baghdad school leaves 5 girls dead
BAGHDAD - MORTAR shells hit the courtyard of a girls' school in a mostly Sunni Arab neighbourhood of Baghdad on Sunday, killing five pupils and wounding 20. On the same day, a US helicopter crashed during fierce fighting between Iraqi government... [Read more]

Jayasuriya shows no signs of waning

Group B: Sri Lanka (6), India (5), Bangladesh (9), Bermuda

HE IS 37 years old and the only surviving member of the 1996 World Cup-winning squad. He still opens the batting as well as turns over his slow left-handers.

Sanath Jayasuriya (below) has been at the frontline for 17 years, amassing 11,538 runs, 23 centuries and picking up 285 wickets in his 379 matches. But there is no sign yet of a dimming of the light.

'I'm still enjoying my game and I'm playing really good cricket, and the team is playing really good cricket,' said Jayasuriya, a former captain.

'We have come to the West Indies in good form. I know I have a responsibility with both the bat and the ball, and I will be trying my best to perform for the team.'

His opening partner Upul Tharanga, a fellow left-hander, was only 11 when Sri Lanka were world champions. But he has formed an impressive link-up with the veteran, who believes another cup triumph can help bring happiness to his troubled island-home.

'I'm not thinking big runs at the moment or a big bag of wickets. I'm thinking team and how I can lift the hopes and aspirations of the people back home,' Jayasuriya said.

'I remember how great a feeling it was back in 1996 when we won, and how the people back home reacted. We have some wonderful memories and we played very well and I was delighted with the way I played. I would love to do that again.'

He revolutionised batting at the 1996 tournament, taking advantage of early fielding restrictions to smash boundary after boundary over the top of a host of bewildered strike bowlers.

'My batting represents my natural game. From the time I was a little boy, I always played my natural game and it was always to attack,' he explained.

Like many here, he will not be tempted into making predictions of a winner at the end of the marathon seven-week tournament.

'Most of the teams are in with a very good chance,' he said. 'In this World Cup, you cannot take anyone lightly.

'You have to play really good cricket if you want to win the cup.'

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

News Today

Majors matter most to Woods
SAN DIEGO - TIGER Woods is more interested in a fifth Green Jacket at the Masters than 11 straight victories on the United States PGA Tour. At this rate, he might have a chance to get both. Woods resumed his improbable... [Read more]

Just fix it
Just fix it WHEN Changi Airport staff found a pothole in the runway one day in the 1980s, then permanent secretary of the Ministry of Communications Sim Kee Boon, who had taken on the mammoth task of building Changi Airport, went... [Read more]

Oil rig worker dies in Sarawak copter crash
KUALA LUMPUR - AN OIL rig worker died after a helicopter crashed off the coast of Sarawak, the second such incident in three months. In the high-seas drama on Tuesday, nine others were plucked from the sea after the Super Puma... [Read more]

World's wacky weather
CLEVELAND (OHIO) - ORANGES and grapefruits froze on the trees in California's citrus groves this month in a freak winter storm that could cost the state's farmers US$1 billion (S$1.5 billion). Bone-rattling blasts of sleet and snow also pelted Texas, Oklahoma... [Read more]

Companies in brief
ST ENGG WINS $68.5M TAIWAN TRAIN CONTRACTSINGAPORE Technologies Engineering (ST Engg) has won a $68.5 million contract from engineering firm Marubeni to supply communications and other electronic systems for a railway project in Taiwan. The company's electronics arm will design and... [Read more]

Smaller sites snapped up in new wave of collective sales
LARGE homes in prime areas may be all the rage, but some developers have quietly turned their attention to smaller sites outside the high-priced central districts. These bite-sized estates in popular residential suburbs are being swept up in a new wave... [Read more]

2nd tier cities on brink of property boom
BEIJING - WUHAN, Chongqing, Chengdu - these are the Chinese cities where the stage may now be set for the next big Asian property frenzy.As China tries to cool red-hot property markets in Beijing, Shanghai and other super-large cities, the attention... [Read more]

India's Hindalco to buy US aluminium firm for $9b
MUMBAI - INDIA'S largest aluminium producer, Hindalco Industries, announced yesterday it was buying the United States-based firm Novelis for US$6 billion (S$9.2 billion). The latest big-bucks foreign takeover by an Indian firm follows Tata Steel's £7 billion (S$21 billion) buyout last... [Read more]

Official who built China 'White House' gets life term
A CHINESE provincial Communist Party official who put up a building modelled after the White House has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery and embezzlement. Feng Liucheng was found guilty of taking bribes worth 3.7 million yuan (S$730,000) and... [Read more]

Protests 'won't stop reforms in W. Bengal'
CALCUTTA - PROTESTS by angry farmers will not deter India's communists from razing farms to build factories in the country's east, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has said. His comments came hours after a policeman was killed by demonstrators near... [Read more]

Factory output grows 5.1% despite slide in electronics
FACTORIES ended last year with a well-worn story - slumping output in the electronics sector dragged down Singapore's overall manufacturing output last month. Industrial production managed growth of 5.1 per cent in December despite the third consecutive month of decline in... [Read more]

Goalie's blunder helps Blues

LONDON - CHELSEA were finally served a slice of luck on Tuesday.

A terrible blunder by Porto's goalkeeper Helton helped them to a 2-1 win and a quarter-final spot in the Champions League.

Not that Jose Mourinho was willing to admit it. Not after spending much of the season bemoaning Chelsea's injuries and Manchester United's good fortune with late goals, kind referees and even kinder penalties.

'A great goalkeeper made a mistake. But if we had not scored in the 48th minute, we would have scored in the 49th. I was always cool,' he said.

With charismatic arrogance, he claimed the credit.

He said it was his half-time talk in the dressing room, with Chelsea trailing 0-1, that turned defeat into progress at Stamford Bridge.

'Psychologically, I told my team to think that at that moment we are out of the competition. We could either enjoy it or be scared of it,' he said.

'I said that if we were scared, we would go out. I said, let's enjoy being under pressure. This is possible sometimes, to show quality and personality.

'Our reaction was very positive. And, when we came out to score in minute three of the second half, it gave extra confidence. We were very, very strong mentally.'

Chelsea were anything but that in a first-half dominated by Mourinho's former team, the stylish Ricardo Quaresma and the tactics of coach Jesualdo Ferreira, reported The Independent.

The visitors, starting without a central striker, had Quaresma and Lisandro Lopez running down the flanks, prompted brilliantly by Lucho Gonzalez.

All three were involved in Porto's 15th-minute goal. Lopez was caught by a late tackle from the disappointing Claude Makelele, but still slipped a pass through to Gonzalez.

The angle of the Argentinian's instant pass allowed Quaresma to sprint through, crack Chelsea's off-side trap and poke the ball past goalkeeper Petr Cech.

The Blues missed John Terry's defensive qualities and calming influence.

Then came Mourinho's team talk.

But no one could have planned for Helton's amateurish goalkeeping three minutes after the re-start.

Arjen Robben's shot from outside the area bobbled, before Helton helped it into the net.

'I made a mistake,' the goalkeeper admitted. 'The ball bounced in front of me and I didn't react correctly. I take full responsibility.'

Chelsea's winning strike came 11 minutes from time.

Jon Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Didier Drogba were involved in the build up, but Michael Ballack took the plaudits when he volleyed home from Andriy Shevchenko's knock down.

Chelsea, winning 3-2 on aggregate, progressed further than they did last season, when they were knocked out at this stage by Barcelona.

The Special One was, for once, the Lucky One.

Not that he will admit it.

News Today

Virgin Blue in a flap over Tiger's entry bid?
THE proposed entry into the Australian domestic market by Singapore Airlines-backed Tiger Airways already appears to be worrying one of its key rivals, Virgin Blue.Less than a fortnight after Tiger boss Tony Davis announced plans to launch a low-cost carrier Down... [Read more]

Foreign investors wary despite asset growth
LONDON - FOREIGN investors are looking at Japan with a mixture of craving and consternation. Those with Japanese assets are seeing them forge ahead as the economy shows signs of real recovery, earning returns that had been promised for so long... [Read more]

MOH to pour $350m into finding cures
HEALTH Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday gave his take on an ongoing debate about the future direction of Singapore's biomedical research. He said his ministry had made a strategic decision to go into such research but its focus will be on... [Read more]

Fight to keep disease at bay
Flood victims reach out for packets of soap and insect repellent that a volunteer is distributing in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.Thousands remained camped out in shelters or under bridges in the city yesterday, even as flood waters continued to recede.At... [Read more]

We had a quarrel hours before tragedy, says wife
THE Chinese New Year festivities ended abruptly for a Singapore family which had gone to Seremban to celebrate it with relatives. Early on Tuesday, Mr Peh Boon Poh, 39, a contract worker, was found dead with three deep slashes to his... [Read more]

Liverpool need to keep on winning
LIVERPOOL - IT IS no use beating Chelsea, and then losing to West Ham. Liverpool scored a morale-boosting 2-0 victory over Premiership champions Chelsea last week, and moved to within five points of the second-placed Blues. However, manager Rafael Benitez says... [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]

Effects of global warming 'unstoppable'
THE verdict is out. That gas-guzzling SUV you drive, the air-conditioner that you leave humming through the night - they are responsible for global warming. Worse, the damage from such human activities that consume fossil fuels is unstoppable and will last... [Read more]

News Headlines
Parliament ShortsINCOME CEILING: HDB TO BE FLEXIBLE INCOME ceilings are still needed for purchases of subsidised Housing Board flats, but HDB will be flexible if families are in difficulty, said Minister of State (National Development) Grace Fu yesterday.Income ceilings help ensure... [Read more]

Israeli police clash with protesters at mosque
JERUSALEM - ISRAELI police stormed the compound of Islam's third-holiest shrine yesterday, firing stun grenades and tear gas to disperse hundreds of Muslim worshippers who hurled stones, bottles and trash. The worshippers were in an uproar over Israeli renovation work near... [Read more]

Aussies pick Newater as best-tasting in test
ADELAIDE - SINGAPORE'S reclaimed water Newater trumped spring water, bottled water and desalinated water in a taste test in Australia, conducted as the country faces a chronic water shortage. It came out tops in a test among 56 participants, as politicians... [Read more]

News Today

Left high and wet
PHOTO: EDWIN KOO For the past week, home for the 22-member family of Mr Hassan Talib has been a big tent by the village road in Batu Pahat, Johor. About 40,300 flood victims were still at 93 relief centres in the... [Read more]

Rafidah slams US threat over Iran gas deal
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA has said it will drop free trade talks with the United States if it is asked to scrap a multibillion-dollar gas deal with Iran, according to a news report yesterday.Mr Tom Lantos, chairman of the foreign affairs... [Read more]

NST and blogger agree to blackout before hearing
KUALA LUMPUR - A MALAYSIAN blogger and a pro-government newspaper suing him for defamation agreed yesterday to cease publishing items related to the case to ensure fair proceedings.Lawyers for Mr Ahirudin Attan and the plaintiff, the New Straits Times newspaper, issued... [Read more]

Nigeria's plea for trafficker rejected
SINGAPORE has rejected Nigeria's plea for clemency for a Nigerian drug trafficker who has been sentenced to death.In a letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the Singapore Government has a duty to safeguard the interests of... [Read more]

Knicks capitalise on Bryant's absence to win
NEW YORK - THE Los Angeles Lakers missed Kobe Bryant's skills, and fans at Madison Square Garden missed his showmanship.But the New York Knicks did not miss the opportunity to profit from his absence.They hit the short-handed Lakers 99-94 on Tuesday... [Read more]

Companies in brief
ST ENGG WINS $68.5M TAIWAN TRAIN CONTRACTSINGAPORE Technologies Engineering (ST Engg) has won a $68.5 million contract from engineering firm Marubeni to supply communications and other electronic systems for a railway project in Taiwan. The company's electronics arm will design and... [Read more]

FairPrice to absorb GST hike for 6 months
SHOPPERS with rice and about 400 other essential items in their baskets at NTUC FairPrice supermarkets will not feel the pinch when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is raised on July 1. This is because, for six months from that... [Read more]

A head for figures
Wearing bills of 10,000 yen on his head for luck, this Tokyo craftsman is painting 'daruma' dolls at a fair in a temple. The dolls have faces painted with moustaches and beards and their eyes are left white. After buying the... [Read more]

2 new PAP MPs elected into party's HQ exco
TWO of the 24 new PAP MPs elected at last year's general election have been appointed to the party's headquarters executive committee. It is an indication that Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew and Mr Lee Yi Shyan are seen as having... [Read more]

Accredit counsellors so that unqualified ones can be purged
With the number of private institutions offering counselling/psychology courses and higher certificate programmes, possibly to accommodate the growing need of counselling and social work in Singapore, there is a need to 'qualify' those deem fit to do the work of counselling.As... [Read more]

Floods bring Jakarta to a standstill
JAKARTA - TORRENTS of shoulder-deep muddy water swamped roads, left residents stranded, and brought the Indonesian capital to a virtual standstill yesterday, after two days of torrential rain. The waters, up to 3m high in what has been described as the... [Read more]

News Today

'Right time to cut ties with foreign creditors'
IN JAKARTA - INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last night explained his reasons for severing ties with a group of donor countries, while calling on Indonesians to join him in the battle against corruption. In his annual state-of-the-nation address, he said... [Read more]

Nash may invest in Spurs
NATIONAL Basketball Association star Steve Nash is interested in investing in Tottenham.Nash, a two-time Most Valuable Player with the Phoenix Suns, has reportedly earned over &pound50 million (S$150 million) from his basketball career. The 33-year-old is a life-long Spurs fan, and... [Read more]

Clinic charged $42 for consultation over CNY
DURING the long weekend to celebrate Chinese New Year, an incident occurred which I feel I have to clear my doubts about.It happened that my grandmother had gastric flu and had to consult a doctor. As it was a public holiday,... [Read more]

Friendly, helpful bus driver spread cheer
ON BEHALF of my family, I would like to thank an SBS driver whose friendliness and enthusiasm for his job made our bus journey really pleasant while doing our Chinese New Year visits.On the second day of the new year, we... [Read more]

Streetzone? More like dead zone, say angry mall tenants
ANOTHER group of retail tenants is locking horns with its management over what it sees as half-baked efforts to drum up business. This time, it is in Ang Mo Kio Central, in a mall scarcely five months old called Streetzone. Call... [Read more]

Cash, candidates aplenty in presidential race
WASHINGTON - HISTORY is in the making in the race for the White House in 2008. It is a campaign of many firsts, underscored by one predominant theme: The war in Iraq. It will be the first time in 80 years... [Read more]

Real to protest over van Bommel's gestures
MADRID - Real Madrid will reportedly protest to Uefa over two insulting gestures made by Bayern Munich midfielder Mark van Bommel, after he scored in the teams' Champions League game.The Spanish club considered Tuesday's actions 'an intolerable provocation'.Van Bommel, a former... [Read more]

'You better hang me'
THE accused gunman dubbed the 'One-Eyed Dragon' created a stir in court yesterday when he urged the High Court judge presiding over his trial to hang him, saying it would ensure his wife's safety. Just before yesterday's hearing broke for lunch,... [Read more]

16 killed after fire breaks out on ferry
JAKARTA - A FIRE broke out on an Indonesian ferry carrying 300 passengers yesterday, killing at least 16 and sending panicked passengers jumping into sea. One women slipped beneath the waves, clutching her 18-month-old daughter. More than a dozen remained unaccounted... [Read more]

Commitment to the nation vital for those in top posts
As a Singaporean, I want to assure Mr Pavin Limanont who wrote the letter, 'Pick leaders on merit, not cultural affiliation' (ST, Feb 16), that our country is anything but xenophobic. As of the year 2004, there are 800,000 foreigners and... [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]