JOHOR BARU - MALAYSIA is reopening its old Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex for pedestrians - which means that people will soon be able to cross the Causeway into Malaysia on foot once again.

The reopening will effectively reverse a ban on pedestrian traffic between the two countries, which Malaysia imposed late last year when it opened a new CIQ complex at the Causeway.

IN A country whose political leaders prepare painstakingly for succession, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong worries that the voluntary sector is not doing enough to groom new helmsmen.

He believes the way to do so is to identify and develop youth leaders with an interest in community service and cast the net beyond the top schools, to include the neighbourhood schools.

WINNENDEN (Germany) - TENS of thousands of people converged on the grieving German town of Winnenden on Saturday for a memorial service for the 15 victims of a shooting spree by a 17-year-old.

Police said as many as 100,000 people were expected to attend the event at which President Horst Koehler was due to give an address during an ecumenical service at the end of the morning in one of the town's churches, in the presence of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

LUANDA - POPE Benedict XVI issued a warning against witchcraft on Saturday during his visit to Angola, after calling on African leaders to battle corruption and drawing a tough line against abortion.

The pope celebrated a private Mass for Angola's clergy and laypeople in the modernist Sao Paulo church, which along with much of the surrounding neighbourhood has been freshly painted and upgraded for his visit.