A SLEW of changes to help patients cope with medical bills are on the way, including a radical one to allow them to dip into their Medisave to care for the terminally-ill at home.

Singaporeans prefer to live out their last days in the company of loved ones, but most do not do so, ending their lives in a hospital or a hospice, noted Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Sunday.

WASHINGTON - WITH the US auto industry skidding toward an abyss, President Barack Obama unveils his plan on Monday for the sector which has called for billions more in government aid to weather the economic storm.

But the US president warned on Sunday the automakers still needed to do more if they are to qualify for further government bailout funds.

HEALTH Minister Khaw Boon Wan is considering raising the amount of insurance employers must buy for foreign workers on work permit.

He said the $5,000 minimum, set at the beginning of last year, may no longer be enough.

ANKARA - TURKS voted on Sunday in local elections marred by deadly violence in a poll seen as a test of popularity for the Islamist-rooted ruling party, which narrowly escaped being banned last year.

Clashes, mainly in the Kurdish-majority east and southeast of the country, left five dead and more than 90 injured before the polls closed at 5 pm (10pm Singapore time).