News Today

'Curry Queen' hit by raid on illegals
A BRITISH government race adviser with close links to Mrs Cherie Blair is at the centre of a major investigation into an alleged illegal immigrant employment racket. Police and immigration officers stormed the £3.5 million (S$10 million) home of Mrs Nighat... [Read more]

NTUC to sponsor training of SME workers
THE National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is going to step in and sponsor the training of unionised workers in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Labour chief Lim Swee Say made the promise yesterday to these workers who are rarely sent for... [Read more]

Breathing easy
These people at a hospital in Xian, in China's Shaanxi province, are being treated in an oxygen chamber for carbon monoxide poisoning. The poisonous gas from coal-fired heaters was trapped in people's homes by unusually low atmospheric pressure.Coal is the main... [Read more]

Thailand to review telecom concessions
BANGKOK - THAILAND'S telecom sector is likely to see further turbulence as the authorities begin to review concession agreements struck under the deposed Thaksin Shinawatra government. Telecom operators will probably need to sign new agreements if the Council of State rules... [Read more]

Kerry rules out second run for White House
SENATOR John Kerry of Massachusetts ruled out a second presidential bid on Wednesday, asserting that he could do more to change the course of Iraq policy in the Senate than by campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire.'I've concluded this isn't the... [Read more]

War on fakes goes digital as S'pore targets online pirates
SINGAPORE, already relentless on those who hawk fakes on the streets, has been stepping up action against online peddlers too. Last week, police charged a 31-year-old man who tried to sell fake Calvin Klein jeans through the Internet. He is now... [Read more]

S'pore sends back fugitive Taiwanese tycoon to US
TAIPEI - FUGITIVE Taiwanese tycoon Wang You-theng was sent back to the United States yesterday because of problems with his travel document hours after he arrived in Singapore en route to Myanmar. The 80-year-old businessman and his fourth wife fled Taiwan... [Read more]

Book launched in honour of abbess
DEVOTEES had planned to celebrate her 98th birthday in February last year, but the founder of Man Fut Tong Nursing Home, Venerable Ho Yuen Hoe, died before they could do so. To mark her birth and death, a book about Venerable... [Read more]

Controversial penalty gives Lions win, sparks Thai walkout
SINGAPORE pipped Thailand 2-1 in the first leg of a controversy-marred Asean Football Championship final last night. The winning goal came off a penalty awarded in the 82nd minute - but which was taken about 15 minutes later. The reason: The... [Read more]

S$ could hit highest in almost a decade
Hong Kong - SINGAPORE will engineer the strongest currency in almost a decade to limit price gains as economic growth improves and inflation pressures mount, said ING Bank NV. Consumer prices may gain when the Singapore Government increases the goods and... [Read more]

Indian minister in Iran to discuss gas, nuclear issue
NEW DELHI - INDIA'S External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee begins a two-day visit to Teheran today, during which he will discuss the multi-billion-dollar India-Pakistan-Iran (IPI) gas pipeline and the nuclear issue. While the worsening situation in Afghanistan and Iraq will also... [Read more]