The Straits Times

May 4, 2009 Monday

Updated

Straits Times Headlines

Grants to help firms boost hiring, retention

S'poreans more self-reliant than believed

Inside

Process, pluralism, protection

View Points

Land checkpoints begin thermal scanning

Flu scare for student who returned from Mexico

Checks at Flyer but not at Expo

Difficult decisions that deserve support

Global caseload nears 900, experts say 'wait and watch'

Mexico traveller infects family and pigs in Canada

Asia case file

Financial sector to shrink in US economy

7.59

Ill-fated coup

2. Six exco members from the same church

3. Thio Su Mien's idea of a takeover unravelled

4. Old guard gathered their wits and fought back

5. Membership surged from 300 to 3,000 in five weeks

6. Pastor Derek Hong used the pulpit, which he regretted

7. The big turnout: Women came early, stayed until night

8. They came from different races, beliefs and backgrounds

9. The lawyer and the even-handed advice he gave

10. Empty seats: Did some of Lau's supporters stay away?

Learn from this episode: DPM **

Global flu cases grow

MEXICO CITY - MEXICO said it was winning the battle against a deadly new strain of flu as it stayed largely shut for business and cases dropped but global health officials warned against complacency.

World Health Organization chief Dr Margaret Chan said the news from Mexico, where the new H1N1 strain was first seen, has to be treated with caution.

Schools take precautions

STUDENTS at Republic Polytechnic (RP) risk paying a $5 fine if they do not carry their thermometers with them on campus.

They are to check their temperature twice a day and declare their readings online, as part of stringent precautions set up at the school on Monday.

Recession easing

LONDON/BEIJING - MANUFACTURING activity in the euro zone declined at its slowest pace in six months and grew China and India in April, raising hopes that the sharpest slump in six decades may have bottomed out.

The latest rays of hope were clouded, however, by a warning on Monday from the European Commission that growth rates in the European economy will only turn modestly positive in the second half of 2010.

3 on home quarantine

THREE persons in Singapore were issued with home quarantine orders, which came into effect on Monday, even as no confirmed cases of H1N1 flu have been reported here.

The three quarantined include two Singaporeans and one foreign resident, said the Ministry of Health on Monday evening.

Pending home sales rise

WASHINGTON - THERE was another ray of hope on Monday for the distressed housing market: the National Association of Realtors said the volume of signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for the second month in a row.

Homebuyers taking advantage of bargain prices, low interest rates and a tax credit for first-time buyers pushed the seasonally adjusted index of pending sales up by 3.2 per cent to 84.6 in March.