WASHINGTON - CONSUMER prices in the US plunged by the largest amount in the past 61 years in October as gasoline pump prices dropped by a record amount.

The Labor Department said on Wednesday that consumer prices fell 1 per cent last month, the biggest one-month decline on records that go back to February 1947. The drop was twice as large as the 0.5 per cent decline analysts expected.

BANGKOK - THAILAND is headed for choppy political waters, with ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra set to announce his active return to politics next month, in an address to supporters at a stadium here.

Thaksin, who faces jail following his recent conviction over a land deal, has been pulling strings and sniping at his political foes from abroad.

SINGAPOREANS must press on with efforts to equip themselves with skills to do business in China and capitalise on the Republic's strong reputation there, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Wednesday night.

'Singapore's high standing in China with both the government officials and businessmen will help you get started. But you must not let down the Singapore's reputation for reliability and integrity,' he said at the 1st anniversary dinner of networking group Business China at Parliament House.

WHAT is thought to be impossible in an open bidding system has happened: COE has crashed.

At the close of the latest tender on Wednesday, COE premium for cars up to 1,600cc - the mainstay of car buyers - closed at an unprecedented $2. Motor traders were shocked. All said the market was soft, but no one expected the price to crash.