THE inaugural Asian Youth Games was declared open by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at 8.45pm on Monday, in an opening ceremony filled with splendour and youthful vigour.

The Games cauldron was lit by national athletes Tao Li, Remy Ong and Jasmine Ser.

JAKARTA - INDONESIA is planning to ask all people arriving from swine flu-affected countries to wear face masks for at least three days, the health minister said on Monday.

The presence of the A(H1N1) virus was confirmed in Indonesia only last week and so far four of the eight known cases have been foreigners.

TOKYO - JAPAN'S Toyota Motor said on Monday it had invented a way to allow a person to steer an electric wheelchair through simple thought, using a helmet-like device that measures their brain waves.

The cutting-edge Brain Machine Interface (BMI) technology uses electrodes attached to the scalp to measure localised brain activity when a user concentrates on certain physical movements.

PATNA (India) - AT LEAST 35 people including eight children were killed after they were struck by lightning in the adjoining eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand, officials said on Monday.

Around 18 people were killed late on Sunday by bolts of lightning across Bihar, including six children, State Disaster Management Minister Devesh Chand Thakur said.